CT Newsroom
Supreme Court Justice Mansoor Ali Shah has demanded the postponed the Judicial Commission of Pakistan’s (JCP) meeting scheduled for tomorrow (Friday), as several petitions are still pending before the apex court challenging the 26th Constitutional Amendment.
Reportedly, Supreme Court Justice Mansoor Ali Shah wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi today, in which he raised objections over the JCP meeting and demanded deciding the pleas of challenging the 26th Constitutional Amendment amicably.
Justice Mansoor Ali stated in the letter that the JCP is constituted under the 26th Constitutional Amendment and the amendment has already been challenged by numerous petitioners from diverse segments of society before the Supreme Court of Pakistan
He sustained, ‘while the outcome of this challenge remains uncertain (it may fail or succeed), a verdict invalidating the Constitutional Amendment would render any actions or decisions taken by this new commission, particularly including nominations for the appointments of additional judges in various high courts, null and void. Such an eventuality could cause serious embarrassment to the institution and the individuals involved.
He further wrote in the letter, ‘“All this can be avoided by hearing and deciding the petitions challenging the 26th Constitutional Amendment by the full court of the Supreme Court so that the question mark on the legitimacy of this commission is resolved once and for all. Further, appointments of additional judges in various high courts by such commission, whose constitutional validity and legitimacy are under question, will cast shadows over the moral authority of these appointments and generate mistrust and weaken public confidence in the judiciary of Pakistan’.
He recalled the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023, which was resolved on October 31 to fix the petitions challenging the 26th Constitutional Amendment for hearing before the full court of the Supreme Court.
‘However, despite this decision, those petitions have not yet been fixed for hearing by the Registrar before the full court. And we never received any response from your good self or the registrar in this regard, he resisted.
Justice Mansoor stressed that the hearing and deciding the pleas are matters of immense constitutional and public importance before taking any further action under the newly constituted Commission under the challenged Constitutional Amendment.
He demanded the new clause (4) of Article 175A must provide procedure and criteria for assessment, evaluation, and fitness for appointment of judges, which was not the case before the amendment under the previous clause (4) of Article 175A.
‘Given this constitutional position, when the previous commission was established through the 18th Constitutional Amendments, its first act was to make its Rules of 2010. Without first making rules prescribing criteria for the assessment and evaluation of the fitness of eligible persons, the nominations for the appointment of additional judges in the high courts are likely to create a public perception that the majority of the Executive in the Commission is attempting to pack the courts — an impression that must be dispelled.
Therefore, it is just and proper that until the rules of procedure, including the procedure and criteria for assessment, evaluation, and fitness for appointment of the Judges are made by the Commission under clause (4) of Article 175A of the Constitution, the matter of appointment of Judges should be postponed’.
