ISLAMABAD: A new petition challenging the 26th Constitutional Amendment has been submitted to the Supreme Court, raising the total number of petitions to eight. The petition, filed by a group of current and former lawmakers, seeks to have the amendment declared unconstitutional.
Among the petitioners are Akhtar Mengal, Chairman of Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), Fahmida Mirza from the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), National Democratic Movement (NDM) Chairman Mohsin Dawar, and Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, a former member of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
The petition specifically targets clauses 7, 14, 17, and 21 of the amendment, claiming they undermine judicial independence. The plea urges the Supreme Court to declare these clauses invalid and calls for an investigation into the voting process during the amendment’s passage in Parliament.
Mohsin Dawar and Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar voiced concerns about the amendment’s passage, alleging procedural issues and lack of proper parliamentary debate. The petition lists the Federation, the Supreme Judicial Commission (SJC), the Special Parliamentary Committee, Senate Chairman Yusuf Raza Gilani, and Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) officials as respondents.
