- Minister says judges filed plea in Supreme Court.
- Minister says Supreme Court not proper forum.
- He says 27th Amendment shifts jurisdiction fully.
State Minister for Law Aqeel Malik said on Thursday that the Federal Constitutional Court, not the Supreme Court, is authorised to hear constitutional matters following the 27th Amendment.
“Judges have attempted to file their petition in the Supreme Court, but the court is not the correct forum for this request,” he said while speaking on Geo News’ programme “Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath”.
Malik said the Supreme Court and the FCC had adopted their respective rules, adding: “The constitutional court has been established, and all cases of constitutional nature will now be heard by it.” He questioned why the judges had submitted their plea to the Supreme Court in the first place.
According to him, the judges’ petition “should have been filed in the constitutional court”, as only the FCC is empowered to hear it after the amendment.
Malik also rejected claims about any compromise on judicial independence, stating that the authority for transferring judges — previously held by the president — had now been assigned to the Judicial Commission.
“Resigning is the judges’ prerogative,” he said, adding that a misleading impression was being created regarding judicial resignations.
Meanwhile, sources said four Islamabad High Court judges have decided to challenge the 27th Amendment in the Supreme Court, with a draft of their petition prepared and sent ahead. Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz, and Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan are among the petitioners, the sources added.
However, Supreme Court sources confirmed no petition from the judges had yet been filed against the amendment. Sources in the Federal Constitutional Court also said no such plea had been submitted there either.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led ruling coalition passed the 27th Amendment earlier this month, which brought changes to the judicial structure and military command.
A major structural change came in the form of the FCC, which was established as a new judicial forum with equal representation from all provinces. The amendment empowered the FCC to exercise suo motu authority upon petitions.
The judicial overhaul, part of the latest amendments, not only paved the way for dissolving the Constitutional Benches but also, through the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure (Amendment) Bill 2025, transferred the authority to constitute case-hearing benches to a three-member committee headed by the chief justice.
The amendment assigns the president and prime minister key roles in judicial appointments, while reducing certain powers of the Supreme Court and shifting some of its authority to the newly established FCC.
Following the passage of the amendment, Supreme Court judges Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Athar Minallah resigned from their posts in separate letters to President Asif Ali Zardari.
The jurists had criticised the 27th Amendment, describing it as a “grave assault on the Constitution of Pakistan”. However, the federal government called the judges’ resignations “political speeches” and the latter’s allegations “unconstitutional”.
Two days later, LHC judge Shams Mehmood Mirza followed the jurists’ footsteps and quit from his position “in protest against the newly-enacted 27th Constitutional Amendment.”
