A group of prominent lawyers, including Abid Zuberi, Shafqat Mehmood, and Munir Kakar, have filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging a set of proposed constitutional amendments.
The petition has named the federal government, the four provincial governments, the National Assembly, the Senate, and other relevant parties.
The petitioners argue that the proposed constitutional amendments undermine the separation of powers and threaten the independence of the judiciary. They have requested that the Supreme Court declare the proposed draft unconstitutional and prevent the government from moving forward with the amendments.
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The petition also calls for a halt to the process of presenting the bill for the constitutional amendment in parliament. In case parliament proceeds with the amendment, the petitioners request that the president of Pakistan be barred from signing it into law.
The petition stresses the need to protect the judiciary's independence, powers, and jurisdiction, asserting that parliament does not have the authority to withdraw judicial powers or interfere with the judiciary’s functions.
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The government's efforts to introduce the 26th Constitutional Amendment faced a setback in just the initial phase, as the federal cabinet meeting, where the amendments were to be approved, was postponed. Later, the sessions of both the National Assembly and the Senate, which had been called to especially table the amendment bill, were adjourned indefinitely.
The postponement of the cabinet meeting was attributed to the government's inability to secure the backing of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman. Therefore, the government failed to move the 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill in today's sessions of parliament.
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Due to the setback, normal proceedings continued in the National Assembly where a three-point agenda was scheduled for discussion, according to the sources. The government has consistently faced disappointment in gathering enough support in parliament to get the crucial judiciary-focused constitutional amendments passed.
The ruling coalition parties, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), had directed their members to ensure their presence, hoping to table the amendments today.
