Supreme Court Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Munib Akhtar have formally requested Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Khan Afridi to urgently schedule hearings for the challenges against the 26th Constitutional Amendment.
The justices, part of the committee established under the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Act (2023) for managing case schedules and bench formations, have decided to hear the “constitutional petitions” in full court on November 4.
The committee reached this decision on October 31 and communicated it the same day, although no cause list was issued for the scheduled date. The committee’s decision is binding under Section 2(3) of the Practice and Procedure Act and must be implemented.
The justices expressed the necessity of scheduling these important petitions within the current week and issuing the cause list immediately. Additionally, they directed the Supreme Court registrar to post the committee’s October 31 decision on the court’s official website.
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Several petitions challenging the government’s recent judicial reforms, which have stirred significant controversy despite their enactment, have been filed in the Supreme Court. These challenges, led by Jamat-e-Islami (JI) and various lawyers’ organizations, including the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), argue that the 26th Constitutional Amendment violates basic human rights and undermines judicial independence.
Furthermore, the SCBA has requested the formation of a full court bench to deliberate on the petitions challenging the amendment.
