Pakistan forms seven-member constitutional bench following reforms in superior judiciary

ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), established under the 26th amendment passed by parliament last month, nominated a seven-member bench on Tuesday to take up constitutional cases amid recent Supreme Court verdicts widely viewed as opposing the interests of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s administration.

The government initially planned to establish a separate constitutional court to address high-profile cases with potential impacts on national politics through the 26th amendment, which introduced judicial reforms, though it ultimately opted for a constitutional bench within the apex court.

Senior Pakistani minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif defended the government’s decision to introduce the amendment, which required a two-thirds majority, citing the need to reinforce parliamentary supremacy and “eliminate the encroachment on our turf.”

However, the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of former prime minister Imran Khan argued that the government aimed to influence the judiciary’s functioning to secure favorable verdicts in constitutional and political matters.

“The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), reconstituted under the 26th Constitutional Amendment, convened its first meeting today at the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Islamabad,” said a notification circulated after the meeting chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi.

“Following a vote, the majority (7 out of 12) approved a seven-member Constitutional Bench with representation from all the four provinces for a term of two months,” it added.
The commission designated Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan as the chairman of the bench comprising Justices Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Ayesha Malik, Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Musarrat Hilali and Naeem Akhtar Afghan.

At the outset of the meeting, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Umar Ayub Khan, who is also a JCP member, objected to its quorum, highlighting the absence of one member.

However, this objection was later put to a vote and by majority, the meeting affirmed that the proceedings were in keeping with the constitution and could continue in the absence of a member.

Earlier this year, before the adoption of the 26th constitutional amendment, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the opposition PTI party in an important case involving the reserved parliamentary seats for minorities and women, asking the Election Commission of Pakistan to revisit their allocation.

The implementation of the ruling could have deprive the ruling coalition of some of the seats and benefited the PTI.

Such high-profile cases with political implications will now be brought before the separate constitutional bench that will adjudicate such matters.