ISLAMABAD: Former judges of superior courts, senior advocates of the Supreme Court, and several former presidents of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) have described the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment as the greatest threat to the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s independence since its establishment in 1956.
In a joint letter addressed to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Yahya Afridi, Faisal Siddiqui, a senior advocate of the Supreme Court, warned that the proposed Constitution (Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Act, 2025, represents the most far-reaching attempt in Pakistan’s constitutional history to restructure the judiciary’s apex body.
“The proposed 27th Amendment is the biggest and most radical restructuring of the federal appellate court structure since the enactment of the Government of India Act, 1935,” Siddiqui wrote in the letter.
The letter has been endorsed by a wide array of former judges and legal luminaries, including Justice (retd) Mushir Alam, former senior puisne judge of the Supreme Court, and Justice (retd) Nadeem Akhtar, former senior puisne judge of the Sindh High Court (SHC). Both have joined calls for an immediate full court meeting to deliberate on the amendment and present a collective response to the federal government.
The letter has also been signed by senior lawyers and former SCBA presidents including Muneer A Malik, Muhammad Akram Sheikh, Anwar Mansoor Khan, Ali Ahmad Kurd, Abid S Zuberi, Amanullah Kanrani, Khwaja Ahmad Hosain, Salahuddin Ahmed, and Shabnam Nawaz Awan.
The signatories stressed that their appeal comes at an extraordinary moment in Pakistan’s judicial history. “This letter is being written by us not in normal times but in times that present the greatest threat to the Supreme Court of Pakistan since its establishment in 1956,” the letter declares.
The legal figures assert that the proposed amendment seeks to fundamentally alter the constitutional identity of the Supreme Court by subordinating it within the federal structure, effectively stripping it of its independent constitutional jurisdiction.
“No civilian or military government in Pakistan’s history has even tried, let alone succeeded, in relegating the Supreme Court to a subordinate court and permanently denuding it of its constitutional jurisdiction, as is being done through the proposed Constitution (Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Act, 2025,” the letter states.
The signatories urged Chief Justice Afridi to convene a Full Court meeting immediately, asserting that the Supreme Court has both the authority and constitutional obligation to offer its input on legislation that directly impacts its structure, powers, and constitutional mandate.
“The Supreme Court has every right and power to give its input to the federal government on any proposed Amendment Act which seeks to radically restructure the basic essence and structure of the Court and its constitutional obligation to administer justice for all,” the letter reads.
They further warned that the urgency is critical, as the government is reportedly planning to pass the amendment by November 11, 2025, or any day thereafter. In a strongly worded section, the signatories cautioned that a failure to act would amount to an implicit acceptance of the Supreme Court’s institutional decline. “If you decline our above request for an immediate Full Court meeting, on the pretext of neutrality or non-interference with legislation (which we consider to be reasons without any substance), then we would at least expect you to accept and admit in a written response to us that you are now reconciled to accept the demise of the Supreme Court of Pakistan as the highest court in the country,” the letter asserts.
The authors added that if such an admission were made, it would signify that the Chief Justice had chosen not to defend the institutional integrity of the Supreme Court, thereby ending any expectation of his role as a protector of judicial independence.
“At least by this admission, we would no longer have any kind of expectation from your Lordship to be a defender of the Supreme Court of Pakistan,” the letter concludes. The proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2025, introduces sweeping changes to the appellate judicial structure, potentially altering the jurisdiction, hierarchy, and independence of the Supreme Court.
Legal experts warn that such changes could undermine the principle of separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution and dilute the court’s role as the final arbiter of justice in Pakistan’s constitutional framework.
The letter by former judges and senior lawyers, therefore, represents one of the strongest collective reactions yet from within the legal community, urging the Chief Justice and the judiciary to take an institutional stand before the amendment is passed into law.