ISLAMABAD: A group of retired judges and senior lawyers has urged Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi to convene a full Supreme Court session to discuss the controversial 27th Constitutional Amendment.
The appeal, drafted by Advocate Faisal Siddiqui, was endorsed by former Supreme Court Justice Mushir Alam, ex-Sindh High Court Justice Nadeem Akhtar, and several ex-SCBA presidents. The letter expressed “deep concern” over what they called the “greatest threat” to the Supreme Court since its establishment in 1956.
The proposed amendment not only reshapes Pakistan’s military command structure but also aims to curtail the powers of the Supreme Court, transferring some of its authorities to a newly proposed Federal Constitutional Court. The amendment also proposes a three-year tenure for the Federal Constitutional Court chief justice and mandates equal provincial representation.
Awan,Senior lawyers, including Muneer A Malik, Anwar Mansoor Khan, Muhammad Akram Sheikh, Ali Ahmad Kurd, Abid S Zuberi, Kamran Amanullah, Khawaja Ahmad Hosain, Salahuddin Ahmed, and Shabnam Nawaz Awan have backed the letter. They described the amendment as the most significant restructuring of the federal appellate system since the Government of India Act, 1935.
The letter stressed that no government in Pakistan’s history—civilian or military—has ever succeeded in diminishing the Supreme Court’s constitutional authority, a step the signees claim the 27th Amendment is attempting. They called on CJP Afridi to immediately hold a full court meeting to discuss the amendment and formulate a collective judicial response before its expected passage on November 11, 2025.
The legal experts emphasized that the Supreme Court has every right to review and provide input on constitutional changes affecting its powers and structure.
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