Ex-SC clerks seek full court over amendment

KARACHI: Former Supreme Court clerks on Sunday urged the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa to urgently convene a full court to address what they described as the “most serious constitutional crisis in recent times”.

In an open letter addressed to CJP Isa, around 50 former clerks urged him to “end this constitutional crisis” by convening a full court to “[urgently] hear and resolve pending challenges” to the presidential ordinance which amended the Supreme Court (Practice & Procedure) Act, 2023.

The enactment of the Practice & Procedure Act was endorsed by a full court as it furthered judicial independence and ensured a balance between the judges of the Supreme Court.

The ordinance seeks to undo what was accomplished through the Act, reverting the Supreme Court to its previous state where the CJP had primacy over the composition of benches and, often, the outcome of cases, the letter stated.

Referring to the recent SC decision on Article 63-A, the former clerks feared the situation has become more “dire” following the ruling, as the reversal of the earlier SC decision would “affect the voting mechanism for the proposed constitutional amendment, potentially enabling coerced or defected votes to be counted in its favour”. The clerks said developments of the preceding weeks were “a brazen ons­laught on the superior judiciary, seemingly intended to systematically disempower it”.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2024