ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) will hear on today (Tuesday) over two dozens of petitions challenging the validity of 26th constitutional amendment.
An eight-member Constitutional Bench, headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, will resume hearing after nine months at 11:30am scores of identical petitions, filed against the 26th constitutional amendment.
Other members of the bench include Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha A Malik, Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Musarat Hilali, Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan.
The Constitutional Bench had issued notices on January 27 to the parties in the identical petitions against the amendment and adjourned the hearing for three weeks. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), as well as various bar associations and former presidents of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), had challenged the amendment. During the hearing, counsel for the petitioners, including Hamid Khan and Faisal Siddiqui, had requested for formation of a full court bench to hear the case.
Justice Mandokhail, however, observed that a full court bench could not be constituted as per the wishes of the counsel for the petitioners. He observed that judges for the Constitutional Bench were nominated by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan; hence, they were part of the Constitutional Bench, adding that a three-member committee of the bench decides on fixation of cases related to constitutional matters.
