Lawyers vow to resist 26th Amendment

KARACHI: The lawyers movement Tuesday rejected the 26th Amendment and vowed that such an “unconstitutional move” would be resisted tooth and nail not only in courts but also on the streets.

Addressing a press conference at the Karachi Press Club, Supreme Court Bar Association former president Munir A Malik, Sindh Bar Council Vice Chairman Kashif Hanif, Karachi Bar Association President Amir Nawaz Warraich, SBC member Syed Haider Imam Rizvi and Sindh High Court Bar Association Vice President Zubair Abro denounced the 26 Amendment and said it would control the judiciary through a controlled democracy.

Munir A Malik questioned the criteria for transfer of constitutional matters to separate constitutional benches and its competence to reduce the backlog. He said the bar had not opposed judicial reforms, accountability of judges or dispensation of justice in the past and always advocated seniority cum merit in the elevation of high court judges to the Supreme Court.

Malik said appointment of judges was primacy of the judiciary but now the establishment will control the appointment of judges, which was a matter of concern for all. “Unfortunately, we are going towards regression by promulgating such unconstitutional amendments,” he said.

He said it was not a matter of poisonous snake or removing its teeth but in this scenario, the snake had strangled the judiciary and such body blow would take decades to recover. He said it was welcoming that the Karachi Bar Association and Sindh Bar Council were playing their roles, like the past, to resist the black laws.

He expressed the hope that the National Action Committee will soon issue its line of action and the 26th Amendment would be resisted in courts as well as on the streets. “If deemed necessary, the bar will also rope in the civil society for assistance,” he said.

Munir A Malik said the SC had already held in Rawalpindi Bar Association case that the court could examine the legality of amendments which were against the Constitution.

KBA President Amir Nawaz Warraich bitterly criticized the government for interfering into the appointment criteria of the judiciary and said enforcing such a practice would damage the independence of the judiciary. He said the government-backed political parties passed the constitutional amendments, which were aimed to control the judiciary, by keeping the entire nation in darkness. He said the bar will launch a countrywide protest campaign against such unconstitutional amendments and continue its struggle until it was withdrawn by the government.

SBC Vice Chairman Kashif Hanif said parliament had exceeded its jurisdiction by introducing amendments in the appointment criteria of judges as well as creating a forum to oust the superior court judges.

Syed Haider Imam Rizvi said the entire nation had witnessed how the 26th Amendment was passed in haste by hijacking independent senators and lawmakers.

Vice President SHCBA Zubair Abro said the federal government had changed the basic structure of the Constitution by introducing an unconstitutional amendment and the SHCBA will resist every unconstitutional act in the courts.