- It was senior-most’s right which was snatched, says senior lawyer
- Says everyone knows how government carried out the 26th Amendment
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shoaib Shaheen on Wednesday declared that the party will challenge the 26th Constitutional Amendment recently passed by the government with two-thirds majority, terming it an “attack” on the country’s judicial system.
“We and the lawyers’ community will challenge this {contentious amendment} as a whole,” PTI leader Shoaib Shaheen said while clarifying that the party was not against the appointment of Justice Afridi as CJP rather against {the way and manner}.
Talking to a private TV channel, he pointed out that the seniority principle was formulated after the late Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, fourth on the seniority list, was appointed as chief justice.
“Later in 1998, all judges of Supreme Court and high courts sit together chalked out the seniority formula and decided that the senior most judge will become the next chief justice,” Shaheen added.
The ‘contentious’ 26th Constitutional Amendment brought numerous changes to the country’s judicial system, including taking away suo motu powers, formation of constitutional benches, and performance evaluations of high court judges from Supreme Court.
In light of the fresh amendments, a Special Parliamentary Committee nominated Justice Yahya Afridi, third on the seniority list (excluding the incumbent CJP Qazi Faez Isa), as the next chief justice of Pakistan.
Subsequently, President Asif Ali Zardari approved Justice Afridi’s appointment under clause 3 of Article 175A read with Articles 177 and 179 of the Constitution, according to a notification issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice today.
Speaking of the constitutional package, the PTI leader said that everyone knows how the government carried out the 26th Amendment. “The way people were picked up, abducted and bribed […] Its constitutionality is a different question,” he said.
Most importantly, he claimed, the government has created a division among the top court judges by passing the judicial reforms.
He noted that the “Form 47 parliament” (reference to the alleged rigging in the February 8 general elections) created a hope in judges that whoever gives judgment in favour of the government will become the next chief justice.
“And the individual who gives independent judgments, like the July 12 verdict in the reserved seats case, cannot become the country’s top judge,” Shaheen said.
In response to a question, Shaheen said his party has “no issues” with Justice Afridi in a personal capacity. “He is a very defined and independent judge […] but the problem is he is third on the seniority list.”
“The right to hold position of chief justice lies with senior number 1,” he said, adding that the decision to appoint Justice Afridi, out of turn, is not correct.
He announced that PTI would challenge the 26th Constitutional Amendment, as a whole. “Our stance is very clear […] it was senior most’s right which was snatched.”
Furthermore, he said, the process of formation of constitutional benches is “an attack on judicial independence”.
Responding to another question, the PTI leader said the principle question — when they challenge the amendment — will be: “Has the executive possess the authority to interfere in the judiciary; Is this independence of judiciary the basic structure of the Constitution and if yes then does the parliament have authority to change this structure.”
When asked that PTI’s objections would be heard by a constitutional bench, Shaheen said they were going to challenge the “original constitution” and constitutional bench was the product of constitutional amendment.
“We would request that the case should be heard by a full court. It cannot be that a by-product of this constitutional amendment hears the case,” he added.
