The vice president of Tehreek Tahaffuz-E-Aen, Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, has asked the Supreme Court, seeking the implementation of a majority decision by the Committee of the Law of the Supreme Court (SC), (Practice and Procedure) (Pope) to set the requests against the 26th Constitutional amendment before a complete court.
The Committee, for a majority 2-1 on October 31, 2023, ordered the SC Registry to list the requests on November 4. However, the cases were not scheduled for the audience.
Through the lawyer Shahid Jamil Khan, Khokhar presented the petition under article 184 (3) of the Constitution, arguing that the committee’s decision remains legal, valid and binding.
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He argued that neither the registrar nor any administrative authority have the competence to ignore a legal order of the committee.
The petition affirmed that judicial independence is a fundamental constitutional principle, and the deviation undermines the rule of law, just trial and due process under articles 4, 9, 10th and 25.
In addition, he declared that the reasons cited by the president of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Yahya Afridi, including informal consultations and jurisdictional objections, do not have a legal basis to annul the formal decision of the committee under the legal mandate.
Khokhar argued that the breach of the order of the committee is equivalent to administrative impropriety, frustrates the legislative intention and undermines the collective authority of the SC, which violates transparency, collegiality and institutional integrity.
The refusal to implement the order, added the petition, deprives the interested parties of their right to a fair audience and the timely award of constitutional challenges, violating articles 4, 10th and 25.
Read more: CJP faces criticism for avoiding the decision of the majority of listening to requests that challenge the 26th amendment
Previously, the CJP Aphridi faced criticism after the minutes of the SC Committee revealed that it ignored the majority decision to form a complete court on requests against the 26th constitutional amendment.
In October 2023, Judges Mansoor Ali Shah and Munib Akhtar, 2-1, ordered the registrar to fix the hearings before a complete court on November 4.
CJP argued that the committee lacked authority and, on the other hand, consulted the judges individually, with nine supporting a constitutional bank.
The lawyers questioned the movement of the CJP, calling the informal survey of illegal judges and a violation of the binding decision of the committee. Critics said that avoiding a complete court undermined transparency and judicial independence.
Since then, the Constitutional Bank has not decided the matter, while the legality of the bank itself is also under challenge.
Judges Shah and Akhtar have repeatedly urged the CJP to convene a complete court, arguing that the amendment has long -range constitutional implications.
