On Thursday, the Supreme Court dismissed petitions that challenged the 26th proposed constitutional amendments after the petitioners requested their withdrawal.
The government’s package, which aimed to establish a federal constitutional court and set a three-year term for the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), was at the centre of these challenges.
The case was handled by a three-member Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, including Justices Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Shahid Bilal Hassan.
Abid S Zubairi, Former Supreme Court Bar Association president and current Pakistan Bar Council member, and other council members originally filed the petitions.
During the session, lawyer Hamid Khan, representing the petitioners, asked to withdraw the petitions. Chief Justice Isa questioned if the petitioners had engaged Hamid, a PTI leader, solely to withdraw the petitions.
The Chief Justice noted that Zubairi could have withdrawn the petition himself, as six lawyers had initiated it and could have personally appeared to do so.
The court was set to hear two cases related to this matter: the main petition and a plea against objections to the petition.
Khan then confirmed his clients’ intention to withdraw all related pleas.
The petitions, filed under Article 184(3) of the Constitution on September 16, urged the Supreme Court to affirm that the separation of powers, judicial independence, and the enforcement of fundamental rights are inviolable and beyond Parliament’s alteration.
The petitioners argued that the proposed amendments were unconstitutional, breaching the Constitution’s basic structure, principles of separation of powers, and judicial independence.
They also requested an injunction to prevent the federal government from presenting the bill in Parliament, suspend the proposed amendments’ operation, and block the bill’s enactment if passed by both houses.
