Hamza Ishtiaq
On August 14, 1947, a state came into existence which took the form of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It was abolished in 1971 and became a constitution in 1973. In contrast, in 1776, a state became independent, known as the United States, and after some time its constitution.
There have been 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution since the creation of the United States, and 26 since the creation of Pakistan.
Remember, the 26th Amendment was passed just two weeks ago, on October 21.
A two-thirds majority of 224 votes was needed to pass the bill in the National Assembly. The Senate is the highest legislative body in Pakistan, so a two-thirds majority of 64 votes was needed to pass the amendment.
Now that the government lacked the votes to pass the amendment. So to pass this amendment, the government took recourse to Article#63A, in which the Supreme Court’s decision came as follows. The floor can now be crossed, because it became a possibility that your vote should be counted if you should vote against the party So some members of the opposition also voted in favor of this amendment and the event was favorable. Whatever the blueprint was, this is how the government achieved the numbers, and voting formally began. It received 65 votes, one more than the 64, 225 votes more than 224. So in this way, the majority vote is achieved the resolution will be passed and the new constitutional amendment will be notified in the official gazette.
Now the changes in this situation are as follows:
1. Article#184 (3) provides for the transfer of powers to the constitutional courts instead of the Supreme Court taking suo motu cognizance.
2. Article#175A (3) of the Constitution provides that the National Assembly shall consist of 12 members, of which 8 shall be from the National Assembly and 4 from the Senate. This parliamentary committee shall finalize the nomination of Chief Justice of Pakistan. So now this right is shifted from the judiciary towards the executive.
3. The tenure of the Chief Justice of Pakistan has been fixed for three years.
4. Article#186A gives the Supreme Court the power to transfer cases. The Supreme Court sees that justice isn’t being done, so the Supreme Court has the power to transfer the case from one high court to another High Court or the Supreme Court itself can move on its own.
5.After Article#191, another Article#191A was added. There will be a constitutional bench in the Supreme Court which will also include the judges of the Supreme Court but there was no talk of the tenure of the bench and not based on seniority.
6. After clause(1) of Article#199, a new clause(1A) was added. That the Supreme Court or the High Court will not interpret the law itself The constitutional bench will.
7. Article#202A was added after Article 202. A constitutional bench will also be set up in the High Court. There will be an annual evaluation of the judges of the High Court and each judiciary of Pakistan will check the performance of the judges and prepare a report.
Now how did the judiciary get a setback by passing this amendment?
Similarly, earlier the process of appointing the Chief Justice was done from among the senior judges. Still, after this amendment, a committee will be formed which will select the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. So it is feared that the process of political influence may be more in the selection of Chief Justice.
The passing of this amendment also increased the pressure and control of the government over the administrative affairs of the judiciary. This can lead to fears that the government will use the judiciary to its advantage.
Passage of the amendment affected the independence of the judiciary as it would not be able to make independent decisions.
The International Court of Justice also strongly criticized the amendment. In the eyes of the International Court of Justice, they are a bulwark for the independence of the judiciary, the rule of law, and human security.
Conclusion:
Passing this amendment can greatly affect the independence of the judiciary, fair decisions, and human rights.