Islamabad:
The petitions that challenge the 26th constitutional amendment have succeeded in persuading a constitutional bench (CB) from the Supreme Court to allow live streaming of the trial.
However, experts state that the real challenge for the petries will be to convince CB to impose a full court’s constitution to hear the petitions against the amendment, which many believe has undermined the independence of the judiciary.
An eight-member CB, led by Justice Amin-out-Din Khan, on Tuesday unanimously allowed live streaming of the petition procedure that challenged the amendment of the amendment through parliament last October.
Some members of CB expressed fear that live-streamed procedures had previously been abused. Despite these concerns, the bench allowed the request of the bench.
The Legal Brotherhood Valued CB’s decision.
Attorney Abdul Moiz Jaferii said that live streaming of cases involving fundamental rights has been recognized by the Supreme Court as a public obligation.
“It has evolved into an invaluable tool for legal and put analysis and comments. It opens doors to justice for anyone with an internet connection and actually provides access to the process of judicial decision making.
“It should be the norm in any overall court across the country. It allows both judges and lawyers to be aware of their audience and where public interest is at stake, this is a critical step forward,” Jaferi said.
Now the real test for CB is whether the applications seeking the constitution of a full court will be allowed to hear or not.
Former Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar has already filed a petition through attorney Shahid Jamil Khan, who is seeking the implementation of the majority’s decision from the Supreme Court (practice and procedure) Act Committee (Papa) to indicate the petitions against the 26th constitutional change to consult a full court.
The Papa Committee on October 31, 2024, the SC registrar instructed with a 2-1 majority to indicate the petitions on November 4, 2024. However, the cases were not planned for consultation. CB ordered on Tuesday that Khokhar’s petition was listed for consultation with the objections.
In a comment on the importance of the 26th constitutional change case, Khokhar said it will prove to be one of the most effective cases in Pakistan’s legal history.
“Either the judiciary will repeat itself and release from the chains spun around it through the 26th constitutional change, or it will completely submit to the will of those who have traditionally been hostile to the idea of an independent judiciary,” he said.
Khokhar added that in today’s hearing they will argue strongly before a full court to hear this case with reference to two central reasons.
“First, the Papa Committee’s majority decision should be maintained, making Chief Justice’s disagreeing vision non-binding.
“Secondly, CB, which is a product of the 26th constitutional change, cannot be impartial to judge on its own validity and create a clear conflict of interest.
Given CB’s previous rejection of including the original members of the bench in the case of reserved seats, there is no chance that the case will be referred to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi for the Constitution of a Full Court.
A senior lawyer said there are strong chances that all CB judges will be included in the bench hearing the 26th constitutional change case.
Currently, however, the total number of CB members 15. “At least 17 members had to hear these petitions against the 26th constitutional amendment,” he added.
Some lawyers said the government cannot afford the involvement of justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice At have Minallah in the bench that heard the case.
Today it becomes clear if the CB judges are interested in including the two senior judges in this bench, they added
Some experts also believe that exclusion of justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice at Har Minallah, Justice Shahid Waheed and Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan will have a poor influence on the legitimacy of the bench.
They wonder how CB, if much creation during the 26th change is being questioned, could decide this matter.
Most of the judges in the Supreme Court were appointed by the former CJP Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in various high courts after his restoration in 2009.
There was a consideration in the former CJP’s mind that a judge should have the courage to take a stand for the independence of the judiciary, which is now threatened.
However, it is also a fact that the independent group, which has a majority in Pakistan Bar Council and the Supreme Court’s Lawyers’ Association, supports the 26th constitutional amendment. The same group has also benefited from the system that works during this change.
On the other hand, Hamid Khan, who leads the professional group, has declared that the upcoming SCBA election will be a referendum against the 26th constitutional change.
