PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court on Thursday put on notice federal government seeking its response to a petition, requesting for making public draft of proposed constitutional amendments bill for public consultation before its introduction in parliament.

A bench consisting of PHC Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Wiqar Ahmad issued notice to attorney general for Pakistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa advocate general under Code of Civil Procedure in the petition filed by former MNA Bushra Gohar.

The bench also sought comments of federal government within three days to the interim relief plea of the petitioner, requesting the court to stop the government from proceeding further with any constitutional amendment till the draft of such amendments was made public.

While the bench directed that the present plea should be clubbed with other such petitions which are scheduled to be heard on Oct 15, the PHC chief justice also indicated that they might constitute a larger bench for hearing those pleas.

Petitioner says consultation with people mandatory for such changes

Petitioner’s counsel Ali Gohar Durrani sought directives of the court for the government to forthwith officially publish the government constitutional package/any draft constitution amendment bill intended to be introduced in parliament for public consultation for a minimum period of eight weeks.

He also sought court’s directives for government to upload such publications on the official website of law ministry.

Mr Durrani stated that government was currently working on a constitutional amendment bill and it was likely to be tabled in parliament shortly. He said that it was in the public knowledge that on Sept 15 a session of both National Assembly and Senate was convened to introduce the proposed constitutional package.

However, he said that the issue was delayed as the government spokesperson on legal affairs, Barrister Aqeel Malik, claimed that they intended to develop consensus on the amendments.

He argued that the approach of government made a mockery of democracy where public participation, inclusion and transparency were at the heart of parliamentary process. He claimed that the parliamentarians, who were gathered in the assembly on Sept 15, later admitted that they had not seen the draft they were meant to vote for.

Mr Durrani pointed out that at the time of Eighteenth Constitutional Amendment, a special committee of parliament was constituted, which released a report making it clear that people were consulted during the process. He added that people were given more than a month to submit their proposals for those amendments.

He stated that through established practice, it was clear when the constitution had been amended in the past, the people had been provided an opportunity to make proposals and suggestions.

Quoting Article 19-A of the Constitution, Mr Durrani said that every citizen had the right to have access to information in all matters of public importance. He added that there was no doubt that the government’s constitutional package was a matter of public importance as it would affect people at large and had serious wide-scale repercussions.

Queries put by the bench mostly revolved around where it was written that the draft legislative package had to be made public, to which the counsel referred the National Assembly Rules of Business, Article 19-A of the Constitution, judgments of the superior courts and international conventions.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2024