ISLAMABAD: Noted former parliamentarians including Akhtar Mengal, Fahmida Mirza, Mohsin Dawar and Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar along with a former Sindh High Court Bar Association president on Friday filed pleas against the 26th Amendment in the Supreme Court, urging the court to rule that “a vote cast under duress and coercion is no vote at all.”
Balochistan National Party—Mengal (BNP-M) President Akhtar Mengal, former National Assembly speaker Fahmida Mirza and chairman of the National Democratic Movement’s (NDM) former MNA Mohsin Dawar,lohg ; and former senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar filed the joint petition while the other petition was filed by former SHCBA president Salauddin Ahmed.
Both petitions argued that the 26th Constitutional Amendment contradicts the constitution — notably the manner in which it was passed, and that “certain provisions of the said Act fundamentally undermine essential features of the Constitution relating to [the] independence of the judiciary and trichotomy of powers.”
Both petitions requested the top court to declare that the amendment was passed in a manner “contrary to the Constitution and law … and has no legal effect.”
They also requested that an independent inquiry be directed for “the manner in which votes were coerced and procured in Parliament.
On October 20, political negotiations and wrangling concluded as the 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill, also known as the Constitutional Package, became law following approval from both houses of parliament.
The newly enacted amendment has brought numerous changes to the judiciary — including taking away the Supreme Court’s suo motu powers and empowering parliamentarians to nominate the next chief justice of Pakistan from among the three most senior SC judges.
The ex-SHCBA president’s petition requested that the court “set aside the proceedings, acts and decisions and directions of the so-called Judicial Commission meeting” held on November 5.
The petitioner requested the court to annul the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) (Amendment) Act 2024 and the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) (Amendment) Act 2024, for being violative of the independence of the judiciary.
The government bulldozed both the legislations among six bills on Monday through the Parliament –the National Assembly and Senate. One bill sought to increase the number of Supreme Court judges, while the other sought extension of the terms of armed services chiefs.
