PBC top panel suggests changes in constitutional package

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) Executive Committee on Wednesday again considered the draft of the proposed 26th Constitutional Amendment clause by clause, and suggested changes in it, which will be finalised in its next meeting on October 2.

The deliberations were made during a meeting of the executive committee held in the PBC office presided over by Chairman Riazat Ali Sahar and attended by Vice Chairman Farooq H Naek and other members.

Meanwhile, other members of the PBC, including Abid S Zubairi, Shafqat Chohan, Munir Ahmed Kakar and Shahab Sarki, termed the constitutional package a complete violation and abrogation of the Constitution. They said that the entire process of introducing the proposed amendments has been shrouded in secrecy which in itself was a proof of the malafide with which the amendments are sought to be introduced.

Moreover, they said that the PBC members, who are also members of political parties that have openly supported the package, cannot be deemed to have an objective and impartial view of the constitutional package.

“No amendment under Articles 238 and 239 of the Constitution can be enacted that destroys or annihilate this fundamental feature,” they said, adding that the power to amend does not include the power to destroy or abrogate; therefore, the power to amend the Constitution can only be exercised to enhance or improve the Constitution and its salient features. They further said that the amendments sought to be introduced through the constitutional package would contravene the principle of trichotomy of powers established by the 1973 Constitution and violate the doctrine of separation of powers.

“Even the parliament cannot amend the Constitution so as to undo salient features of the Constitution and render a pillar or organ of the state weak and dependent,” they said, adding that there are implied limitations on the power of parliament to amend the Constitution i.e. parliament cannot amend the Constitution to attribute redundancy to courts.

They further said that creation of a supra constitutional federal constitutional court would lead to absolute chaos and anarchy, adding that for all practical purposes, the constitutional package has abolished the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Moreover, the sacrosanct office of Chief Justice of Pakistan has also been made subservient to the office of chief justice of the federal constitutional court, they said, adding that the creation of an entirely separate federal constitutional court, which is to run parallel to an already existing Supreme Court, would only lead to a complete paralysis of the judicial system.

They termed the constitutional package a fundamental attack on the basic structure of the Constitution and trichotomy of powers enshrined under the Constitution.