KARACHI: Lawyers and human rights organisations have expressed fear that the 26th Constitutional Amendment would bring the judiciary under the government’s control and demanded its withdrawal.

While addressing a press conferen­ce in Karachi, senior lawyers announced a protest movement against the amendment, for which a programme will be announced in a few days.

Former president of the SCBA , Munir A. Malik, called the existing governance system a “controlled democracy” and expressed apprehension that the judiciary would also face the same fate.

“There is a controlled democracy in the country, and now, this amendment will be marked as a milestone for controlling the judiciary as well. Now, there will be an establishment-controlled judiciary”, Mr Malik said at the Karachi Press Club.

Munir wants public to rally for judicial freedom; HRCP concerned by ‘coercion’ of lawmakers

He was accompanied by Judicial Commission of Pakistan member from Sindh Syed Haider Imam Rizvi, Sindh Bar Council vice chairman Kashif Hanif, Karachi Bar Association president Amir Nawaz Warraich and Sindh High Court Bar Association vice president Zubair Ahmed Abro. He added that constitutional benches were almost similar to constitutional courts as the former would have their own head and separate procedure to nominate the judges.

Mr Malik stated that constitutional questions were involved in all cases — and not only the civil and criminal appe­als — pending before the apex court.

Protest plan

Mr Malik said it would take decades for the judiciary to recover from such a fatal blow and besides the legal fraternity, the public and judges should also make efforts for judicial independence.

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The lawyers’ National Action Committee will give a programme in a few days for protests against the constitutional amendment and for the independence of the judiciary, he said.

Replying to a question whether the legal fraternity would take to streets or approach the Supreme Court, Mr Malik said both options were open as the top court can entrain a plea if there were procedural defects in the amendment.

On the question of judicial overreach, he said the legal fraternity ne­­v­er denied the problem, especially after 2009, and top judges, including Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, also raised their voices against such transgression.

Mr Rizvi said “everyone knew how the two-thirds majority was achieved to pass the amendment”.

The draft of the amendment was only made public when the federal law minister tabled it in the parliament, he added.

Mr Warraich, the KBA president, said after the amendment, the judges of higher judiciary would try to appease the government as it would have a sway in their appointment. He urged the government to withdraw the 26th Constitutional Amendment.

HRCP’s reservations

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has also expressed reservations over certain provisions of the amendment.

It said while the final legislation was “more tempered” than the initial proposal, it still didn’t allay the fears of erosion of judicial independence.

The manner in which constitutional benches were to be established, as well as their composition, raise serious concerns over their “credibility” and possible “political influence”.

The special parliamentary committee — comprising members of the Sena­­te and NA according to parties’ proportio­nal representation — that will nominate the chief justice of Pakistan gives the government “a dangerous advanta­­ge”, potentially subjugating the judiciary.

The commission hailed the “long-ov­erdue” changes in Article 9A, which ma­­­­­­de the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment a fundamental right. The commission expressed concern over allegations of coercion level­led by opposition parties. “These are ex­­­tremely serious and must weigh on the conscience of those who proposed the Act,” the rights body said.

Imran Gabol in Lahore also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, October 23th, 2024