A constitutional bench of eight judges (CB) of the Supreme Court (SC) resumed on Tuesday a group of pleadings contesting the 26th constitutional amendment – legislation which rebalanced the judicial authority, reduced the standards of permanence and sparked a fierce debate on the independence of the judiciary.
The bench said that it would first approach petitions calling for the training of a full court, before turning to requests for live streaming in the procedure.
Tehreek-i-Tahaffuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar was represented by lawyer Shahid Jameel, who appealed to the constitution of a full court. Mr. Jameel declared in court: “objections were raised on our petition concerning the training of a full court.”
After the deliberation, the bench ordered that the petition be officially recorded.
Khawaja Ahmad Hosain, lawyer for former chief judge Jawad S. Khawaja, asked that the procedure be broadcast live. “The whole nation wants to see what is going on,” he said. He also argued that the hearings on the petition requesting the training of a complete bench should also be broadcast live.
The government representative of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa said: “We have no personal objection to any judge on the bench.”
Lawyer Salahuddin argued that “each citizen should have access to information on the importance of the public”. He argued that the 26th amendment had been adopted “in the dead of the night”, without public debate, and called for greater transparency.
In a decision promoting the petitioners, the Supreme Court granted approval of the live dissemination of the procedure concerning the 26th constitutional amendment.
The case was adjourned until tomorrow.
The 26th constitutional amendment
The 26th law on constitutional modification, 2024, introduced large -scale reforms to the judicial system of Pakistan. Adopted in October 2024, the law withdrew the Suo Motu powers from the Supreme Court under article 184, paragraph 3, of the 1973 Constitution, set a three -year mandate for the chief judge of Pakistan in place of the traditional seniority succession and authorized the Prime Minister – through a parliamentary committee – to name the next higher judge among the three oldest judgments.
He also restructured the Pakistan Judicial Commission and changed the bencing training powers, widening the role of the Parliament and the Executive. The amendment also forced the State to eliminate the RIBA (interest) from the financial system by January 1, 2028.
The bench and the pleadings
A constitutional bench of eight judges (CB) of the Supreme Court, led by Judge Amicin Khan, hears the petitions contesting the 26th law on the constitutional modification, 2024.
There were 36 petitions – deposited by the associations of high courts of the High Court, Pakistan Tehreek -E -insaf (PTI), actors of civil society and former judges – prohibiting the legislative process, constitutional validity and the impact on judicial independence from the amendment.
The petitioners urged the court to eliminate the entire amendment for reasons of procedural irregularity, arguing that it may not have obtained the two-thirds parliamentary majority required under article 239 of the 1973 Constitution for a constitutional amendment.
Alternatively, they seek to invalidate specific clauses, in particular those concerning the appointment of the chief judge of Pakistan (CJP), the performance assessments of the judges by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) and the structure of the constitutional bench introduced by the amendment. The pleadings also call to restore article 175a (3) of origin, which provided for the appointment based on the seniority of the CJP.
The petitioners also argue that the laws promulgated later – such as the law of 2024 of the Supreme Court (practice and procedure) – are invalid, because they arise from what they describe as an unconstitutional basis.
Several petitioners also asked that the case be heard by the Complete Supreme Court rather than the CB formed under the contested amendment, citing the gravity of the constitutional questions at stake.
