Islamabad
Former Chief Justice of Pakistan Jawwad S. Khawaja has petitioned the Supreme Court to strike down the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment, decrying it as a mortal threat to judicial independence and the separation of powers doctrine. Filed under Article 184(3) through counsel Khawaja Ahmed Hosain, the plea urges suspension of any provisions curbing the apex court’s jurisdiction or shifting it to alternative forums, amid parliamentary pushes to enact the bill.
Khawaja, in a stark admonition, argues the tweaks erode the hard-won consensus of the 1973 Constitution, setting a “haunting precedent” that undermines the social contract and invites historical repetition. “A nation whose foundational document is fundamentally controversial cannot prosper,” the petition states, invoking the Rule of Law: “Do we want to be governed by Laws or Men?” It contends Parliament lacks authority to diminish SC powers, rendering such changes “patently unconstitutional” and akin to abolishing the court itself.
The move resonates amid judicial disquiet, with sitting judges and retirees urging CJ Yahya Afridi to convene a full court, yet no such meeting has materialized. Ex-Additional AG Tariq Mahmood Khokhar lambasted the inertia: “The CJP presides over the liquidation of the Supreme Court,” warning of executive-legislative overreach echoing past dictators like Ayub, Yahya, and Musharraf. He highlighted ironic self-sabotage: empowering a “constitutional court” via SC disempowerment, dooming democracy.
Khawaja seeks declarations barring jurisdiction transfers, including high court judges, and SC intervention to avert “irreparable harm.” Lawyers decry the bill’s oath-violating essence, as opposition critiques its legitimacy in a polarized assembly. With the amendment nearing passage, the petition spotlights an existential judicial brink, demanding the SC uphold its oath to defend the Constitution or risk irrelevance. “The death of the Supreme Court will be the death of an independent judiciary,” it concludes, rallying for urgent hearings to salvage institutional sanctity.