No NRO on constitutional tweaks: Tarar

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information Attaullah Tarar Wednesday declared that the PTI would not be allowed to get an NRO by using the current situation as a bargaining chip to secure the release of its incarcerated leader.

Tarar’s retort came after the PTI’s senior leader Ali Muhammad Khan demanded that the government first release their founder chairman Imran Khan and then discuss the constitutional amendment.

Talking to the reporters here, Tarar said extensive consultations were underway with all the political parties on the proposed constitutional package, reports APP. He said all the political parties on both sides of the aisle had thorough discussions and tried to reach a consensus on the draft bill. both inside and outside parliament.

He commended the law minister’s role in the drafting of constitutional amendments and engaging all political forces. He said many countries, including Italy, Germany and Spain, had both supreme courts and constitutional courts. “Constitutional matters go to the constitutional courts so that common citizens do not face hurdle in getting justice and their cases reach logical conclusion well in time.”

Citing the example of the United States, he said cases concerning the Capitol Hill attack were concluded within a span of few months and the culprits were brought to justice. Unfortunately, in Pakistan, he said, the cases related to May 9 events were still pending. It was a question mark that why the culprits were roaming free, he added. He said the countries where constitutional courts were operational, the system of timely provision of justice was functioning, with easy evaluation of the judges’ performance.

He said the main objective behind the constitutional court was to segregate the constitutional petitions from criminal, civil and corporate cases. It was the best option to provide speedy justice to common man, he added. He said the consultation process was being expanded and JUI-F chief Fazlur Rahman was being engaged. He said supreme courts and constitutional courts run parallel in Italy, Germany and Spain.

The minister clarified that the draft of constitutional amendments was prepared by a legal team of the Ministry of Law and Justice under the guidance of Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar. The draft has been shared with the Pakistan Peoples Party, JUI-F and other parties and a discussion was held with them on every section, he added. The minister said the creation of a constitutional court was part of the Charter of Democracy and the legal forums had given their inputs on the issue.

Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazir Tarar Wednesday categorically stated that Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Qazi Faez Isa will retire on October 25 and the senior most judge will step into his shoes the next day. He was addressing a meeting of representative bodies of lawyers at a local hotel organized by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA).

Tarar said the amendment concerning the trial of civilians in a military court had been dropped after opposition from PPPP and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. The law minister, however, said the matter related to the head of Constitutional Court was still open-ended and it was yet to be decided as to who would head it. “It was very easy for us to appoint the chief justice of Pakistan as the Federal Constitutional Court head but the matter is still open-ended,” Tarar said.

Announcing the joint declaration, Supreme Bar Association (SCBA) President Shahzad Shaukat said it was resolved that amending the Constitution was a prerogative of parliament but it should not be in conflict with the basic structure of the Constitution. He said a committee would be formed consisting of representatives of different lawyers’ councils adding that the final draft of constitutional amendments should be shared with the lawyers’ representatives committee.

“No one except the elected representatives of lawyers have the power to call for a strike while the matter of forming a constitutional court will be taken forward after consultation with lawyers,” says the joint declaration. It demanded that the SCBA’s petition against the court’s decision on Article 63-A should be fixed for an early hearing.

Earlier, speaking on the occasion, Tarar said it was decided in the Charter of Democracy that a Constitutional Court would be established adding the Pakistan People’s Party had talked about the unfinished agenda of the Charter of Democracy. “Unless it is approved by the government, it cannot be declared a bill,” Tarar said, adding that it was pointed out in the Apex Committee as to how many sentences were given in the anti-terrorism courts while the judge who heard the Benazir Bhutto case was under threat.

He said the Charter of Democracy came in 2006, from 2009 to 2013, then in 2018 and 2019 there was a flood of suo motu cases. He further said the idea of establishing a Constitutional Court was given by the late Asma Jahangir before the Charter of Democracy. He said the proposed Constitutional Court comprised nine members but they thought it should also represent the provinces. Parliament has the power to legislate; however, the bar councils can also form a committee if they want to raise the age limit to 65 or 68 years, he said.

President Supreme Court Bar Association Shahzad Shaukat complained that the Pakistan Bar Council and Supreme Court Bar Association should have also been taken into confidence on the constitutional amendments. Vice Chairman Pakistan Bar Council Farooq H. Naik said the Constitution of Pakistan was a living document adding that the Supreme Court also believed that parliament had the power to amend the Constitution but no one exactly knew about the constitutional package.

Tarar said a committee of lawyers should prepare a draft which could be better for democracy and people adding that there were four things in the judicial package and he was of the opinion that the draft should be put on the website of Supreme Court. Supreme Court Bar Association President Shahzad Shaukat questioned the rationale behind the government’s move to increase the age limit of judges, saying lawyers had reservations about the transfer of High Court judges.

The law minister said eight members of the parliamentary committee had unanimously rejected the appointment of two judges but the decision was changed by the court. “We did not suggest that Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa should head the Constitutional Court rather we suggested that the head of Constitutional Court should be appointed in consultation with the prime minister,” Tarar said.

Ahsan Bhoon Advocate said sometimes cases of ordinary civilians were affected due to the cases like Article 63A adding that Article 199 should not be touched at all.

The law minister, however, said the political parties did not agree to the amendment concerning the trial of civilians in military courts and PMLN members also did not agree to it. The law minister said the proposals of lawyers would be submitted to the parliamentary committee adding that the judicial package was an attempt to ensure justice to the common man. He said everyone, including the opposition, had the right to criticize adding that the draft of constitutional amendments had been provided to the Pakistan Bar and Supreme Court Bar and they should put it on their respective websites.

Later, talking to reporters, Tarar said whatever the draft, consensus would be developed within the House. He said Imran Khan himself was among the signatories of the Charter of Democracy adding that in 18 years after the Charter of Democracy, Imran Khan never said that the Constitutional Court should not be formed.

Meanwhile, the government has once again contacted the PTI for forging a consensus on the constitutional amendments, reports Online. Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq made this request during his meeting with the arrested PTI MNAs. Sources said Adviser to the Prime Minister Rana Sanaullah has also requested PTI MNAs to convince their party to consult with the legal team.

Talking to Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar over phone, Sana asked him to give the draft of the constitutional package to the opposition for review.

Taking up cudgels for the coalition government, PMLN parliamentary leader in the Senate and Chairman Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Senator Irfan Siddiqui Wednesday said there was no plan to extend the term of chief justice or to raise the judges’ retirement age. “These are merely speculations circulating in the media and the government has no such plans,” he said while talking to a private TV channel. Siddiqui expressed confidence that the JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman will agree to the constitutional amendments.

To a question, he denied that the process of constitutional amendments had hit snags.

In a related development, raising the ante, JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman Wednesday said he had rejected outright the constitutional amendment package, as supporting it would be the biggest betrayal to the nation.

Talking to journalists outside the residence of PTI senior leader Asad Qaiser here, Fazl said the government was now saying that they had no draft but what was the document that they had provided.

Asad hosted a luncheon in the honor of Fazlur Rehman and former president Arif Alvi.

During his media talk, Fazl complained that the draft was provided to someone and not to others and wondered what the government was up to.

“But whatever was given to us was in no way acceptable to us after we had examined it. If we had supported the government on this amendment, then there could have been no greater betrayal of the nation,” he maintained. Talking to the media before Fazl’s departure, Asad claimed that ‘we have had the best consultation; Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that he had completely rejected the draft’.

He said the JUI-F and PTI will work together in the parliament and accused the government of hiding the constitutional amendments from its own members.