• Hamid, Kurd warn of protests similar to agitation for judges’ restoration
• Karachi Bar Association wants Mansoor as next CJP

KARACHI: Lawyers’ leaders have vowed to launch a protest movement against the 26th Constitu­tional Amend­ment along the same lines as the one in 2007 for the judges’ restoration.

While talking to reporters after appearing before a Supreme Court bench on Monday, senior counsel and PTI leader Hamid Khan said a National Action Committee, similar to what had been done in 2007, would be formed to launch the movement.

The committee would include members from high court bar associations, Supreme Court Bar Association, and district bars to formulate a plan of action.

He said after October 25, when the incumbent chief justice retires, only the senior-most judge “would be recognised as the CJP”.

“[We] would not accept anyone other than Justice Mansoor Ali Shah as chief justice.”

Mr Khan said he will also appeal to the legal fraternity to celebrate Oct 25 as the day of deliverance when the incumbent CJP will retire.

Former SCBA president Abid Zuberi also criticised the amendment and called it “tampering” with the Constitution.

He said lawyers consider this amendment unconstitutional and that it was their duty to protect the Constitution.

The parliament and government “have come under the control of the establishment,” Mr Zuberi added.

In a statement, the Karachi Bar Association said the parliament passed the amendment “in a non-transparent and hasty manner without any debate”.

While the lawyers’ body acknowledged parliament’s right to amend the Constitution, it said the manner in which this right was exercised marks a “dark day” in the democratic history of Pakistan.

It said there was no justifiable reason to deny the appointment of Justice Mansoor Ali Shah as the chief justice, and he should be notified as the top judge.

The KBA also questioned the amendment’s provisions regarding the appointment of judges to constitutional benches. It said the benches would be constituted by a “politically dominated Judicial Commission of Pakistan”. “We see these provisions as a grave threat to the independence of the judiciary and a subversion of access to justice for all citizens.”

The statement said Chief Justice Qazi Faez might facilitate the government in the appointment of “executive-minded judges” to the constitutional benches.

“Therefore, we demand that, as the Chief Justice is retiring in just four days, he should play no role in the Judicial Commission of Pakistan regarding the appointment of judges to the constitutional benches of the Supreme Court.”

The KBA said it will continue to monitor the situation and stands ready to offer legal assistance to “protect the independence of the judiciary and the rights of citizens”.

‘Day of Liberation’

Lawyers from Balochistan have also “rejected” the 26th Constitutional Amendment, which they said would “gag” the judiciary’s independence.

The leaders of the Lawyers’ Action Committee, former Supreme Court Bar Association president Ali Ahmed Kurd, Advocate Afzal Harifal and Advocate Rahib Khan Buledi, said the legal community and democratic forces would not accept the amendment and announced a movement for restoring the judiciary’s independence.

The committee leaders, who addressed a press conference on Monday, said they would formulate a protest plan in the meeting on October 26.

“We will observe a ‘Day of Liberation’ on October 25, on the day of the retirement of Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa,” Mr Kurd said.

He said the protest would be against curtailment of the judiciary’s powers through the amendment.

The lawyers said the amendment has “strangled justice” and the political parties who played their role in passing the controversial amendment have “lost their importance”.

The amendment has created a “constitutional crisis” at a time when the judicial system was “already on crutches”.

The judicial system was “barely functioning”, and the constitutional amendment has brought it further down to its knees. The amendment’s main objective, the committee alleged, was to target Justice Mansoor Ali Shah.

They claimed that the amendment was passed in haste, and no lawmaker even read the bill before passing it.

The lawyers criticised political parties for “consistently surrendering to dictators” and said only lawyers stood firm in the face of injustice.

Nasir Iqbal in Islamabad, Sumair Abdullah in Karachi and Saleem Shahid in Quetta also contributed to this report.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2024