- The minister said the judges had filed a plea in the Supreme Court.
- The minister says the Supreme Court is not an appropriate forum.
- He says the 27th Amendment completely transfers jurisdiction.
Minister of State for Law Aqeel Malik said on Thursday that it is the Federal Constitutional Court, not the Supreme Court, which is authorized to hear constitutional questions following the 27th Amendment.
“The judges have tried to file their petition with the Supreme Court, but the Court is not the appropriate forum for this petition,” he said during a speech on PK Press Club News’ program “Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath“.
Malik said the Supreme Court and the FCC had adopted their respective rules, adding: “The Constitutional Court has been established and all cases of a constitutional nature will now be heard by it. » He questioned why the justices submitted their plea to the Supreme Court in the first place.
According to him, the judges’ request “should have been filed before the Constitutional Court”, since only the FCC is authorized to hear it after the amendment.
Malik also rejected allegations of any compromise on judicial independence, saying the power to transfer judges – previously held by the president – had now been assigned to the Judicial Commission.
“Resignation is the prerogative of judges,” he said, adding that a misleading impression was being created regarding resignations of judges.
Meanwhile, sources said four judges of the Islamabad High Court have decided to challenge the 27th Amendment in the Supreme Court, with a draft petition prepared and sent. Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz and Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan are among the petitioners, the sources added.
However, Supreme Court sources confirmed that no petition from the judges had yet been filed against the amendment. Sources within the Federal Constitutional Court also said that no such plea had been filed.
The ruling coalition led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) passed the 27th Amendment earlier this month, which brought changes to the judicial structure and military command.
A major structural change came in the form of the FCC, which was created as a new judicial forum with equal representation from all provinces. The amendment empowers the FCC to exercise suo motu authority over petitions.
The judicial overhaul, which is part of the latest amendments, has not only paved the way for the dissolution of constitutional benches but has also, through the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2025, transferred the power to constitute benches to a three-member committee headed by the Chief Justice.
The amendment gives the president and prime minister key roles in appointing judges, while reducing some powers of the Supreme Court and transferring some of its authority to the newly created FCC.
Following the adoption of the amendment, Supreme Court Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah resigned from their posts in separate letters addressed to President Asif Ali Zardari.
Legal scholars had criticized the 27th Amendment, calling it a “serious attack on the Constitution of Pakistan”. However, the federal government called the judges’ resignations “political speeches” and the judges’ allegations “unconstitutional.”
Two days later, LHC judge Shams Mehmood Mirza followed in the footsteps of the jurists and resigned from his post “in protest against the recently passed 27th constitutional amendment”.
