The draft of the constitutional amendments approved by the parliamentary special committee has been revealed.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto also confirmed that a consensus has been reached on the tweaks to the law while PTI chief Gohar Ali Khan claimed that the draft was the same that the party had reached a consensus on with JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
Following a consensus during the committee meeting on Friday, an 11-page draft has been finalised. The constitutional amendment has been named the “26th Amendment Act 2024.”
The proposed constitutional draft includes the addition of Article 9A (clean and healthy environment) and amendments to Articles 38 (promotion of social and economic well-being of the people), 48 (president to act on advice, etc), and 81 (expenditure charged upon Federal Consolidated Fund) of the Constitution.
According to the proposed amendment, no court will be able to question the recommendations sent to the president or the prime minister by the cabinet. The draft also includes a proposal to increase the number of members in the Judicial Commission of Pakistan by amending Article 175A (appointment of Judges to the Supreme Court, High Courts and the Federal Shariat Court).
Moreover, the proposal includes the inclusion of the chief justice along with four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court in the judicial commission, as well as two members each from the National Assembly and the Senate.
The law minister, the attorney general for Pakistan, and a nominee from the Pakistan Bar Council will also be members of the commission, with one member each from the National Assembly and the Senate representing both the government and the opposition.
The new draft of the proposed 26th constitutional amendment comprises 26 amendments. It also suggests the establishment of constitutional bench.
It added that the judicial commission would determine the number of constitutional benches and judges, ensuring that, where possible, equal representation of judges from all provinces is maintained in the constitutional benches.
It has been proposed that the constitutional benches will hold the power of suo motu jurisdiction under Article 184 (original jurisdiction of Supreme Court). Additionally, cases related to the interpretation of the Constitution will fall within the jurisdiction of the constitutional benches as outlined in Article 185 (appellate jurisdiction of Supreme Court).
