- Eight-member larger bench, headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, to take up pleas
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has fixed October 7 for hearing petitions challenging the 26th Constitutional Amendment, with an eight-member larger bench headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan set to take up the case at 11:30 a.m. in Islamabad.
The bench includes Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha Malik, Justice Hassan Rizvi, Justice Musarrat Hilali, Justice Naeem Afghan, and Justice Shahid Bilal.
The amendment — passed in October 2024 with a two-thirds majority in both houses of Parliament — curtails the apex court’s suo motu powers, fixes the chief justice’s term at three years, establishes constitutional benches in high courts, and empowers a 12-member parliamentary committee to nominate the next Chief Justice of Pakistan from among the three senior-most judges.
Khokhar’s petition and registrar’s objections
On Monday, Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) leader Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar had filed a petition under Article 184(3), seeking urgent fixation of challenges to the amendment before a full bench, in line with an October 31, 2024, decision of the judges’ committee under the 2023 Practice and Procedure Act.
However, on September 19, the Supreme Court registrar returned the plea, arguing that it failed to show how matters of fundamental rights and public importance were involved. The registrar maintained that Khokhar appeared to be raising an “individual grievance,” which could not be addressed under Article 184(3), citing Zulfiqar Mehdi v. PIA (1998 SCMR 793) as precedent.
The registrar also noted that the petition contained multiple prayers and that notices to respondents were not properly drafted.
Khokhar, terming the decision an attempt to “undermine and close the doors of justice,” announced he would appeal. “Will file an appeal,” he wrote in a post on X.
Background on the amendment
In October 2024, the 26th Amendment was passed in the Senate with 65 votes in favour and 4 against, and in the National Assembly with 225 votes in favour and 12 opposed.
It provides that the senior-most judge on each constitutional bench will serve as presiding officer. A 12-member parliamentary committee — eight members from the National Assembly and four from the Senate — will propose the new CJP’s name to the Prime Minister, who will forward it to the President for final approval.
For appointments to the Supreme Court, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) — headed by the Chief Justice, three senior-most judges, two lawmakers each from the NA and Senate, the law minister, attorney general, and a Pakistan Bar Council nominee with at least 15 years of Supreme Court practice — will make recommendations. The JCP will also monitor judges’ performance and report to the Supreme Judicial Council.
Several petitions argue that the amendment undermines the Constitution’s basic features and infringes on fundamental rights. Last year, Chief Justice Yahya Afridi also disregarded the judges’ committee’s directive to place all such challenges before the full court.
