ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Irfan Siddiqui has criticised the judiciary for failing to stand against martial law, while a heated debate surrounds a recent constitutional amendment. Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad on Wednesday, Siddiqui questioned the legal basis of recent court decisions, particularly in relation to reserved seats and party defections. “No member in the case …

ISLAMABAD: Ten days after the Supreme Court ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan to immediately implement its verdict on eligibility of PTI for reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies, the ECP will hold another meeting on Tuesday to consult a legal expert on how to go about. Informed sources told Dawn that the commission held meetings on a …

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa has raised nine questions in a letter to the Supreme Court’s registrar, seeking clarification on how a Sept 14 clarification order was uploaded to the top court’s website. The Sept 14 order, issued by eight judges led by senior puisne judge Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, criticised the Election Commission of …

LAHORE: The Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Amendment Ordinance, 2024 was challenged in Lahore High Court in a petition requesting the court to declare it unconstitutional and all orders or actions taken in this regard to be set aside. The peition made the request arguing that the sole objective of this Ordinance is to target PTI’s founding chairman Imran Khan …

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has ruled that national or provincial assemblies cannot make prospective or retrospective laws that are against fundamental rights guaranteed in the Constitution. The observations came from Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, who was heading a three-judge bench, which heard a set of appeals challenging the amendments made in 2019 to Section 65B of the Income Tax …

ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Friday said that President Asif Ali Zardari has signed off on the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Amendment Ordinance 2024 that amended the law to clip the top judge’s powers of bench formation, state-run Radio Pakistan reported. In October 2023, the Supreme Court had upheld the SC (Practice & Procedure) Act, 2023 which was …

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has said that proposed constitutional amendments can’t be challenged at this stage, since they are yet to be passed by parliament. Meanwhile on Thursday, lawyers continued to express concerns over the government’s attempts to “secretly” amend the Constitution. The SC registrar office returned a petition moved by former Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Abid Shahid …

KARACHI: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari is convinced that Justice Mansoor Ali Shah would be the next chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) and would be taking charge of the top office next month. The PPP chairman also believes that they will be able to win over JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on the proposed legislation that allows establishment of “constitutional courts”, …

ISLAMABAD: A petition challenging the government’s proposed constitutional amendment has been filed in the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The petition, submitted by prominent lawyers including Abid Zuberi, Shafqat Mehmood Chauhan, Shahab Sarki, Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan, and Munir Kakar, calls for the proposed amendment to be declared unconstitutional. The petitioners argue that the amendments are a direct violation of the principles …

LAHORE: Senior lawyers have reacted sharply to the proposed constitutional package and called upon Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa to stay away from the controversy. In a statement on Sunday, Muneer A. Malik and Faisal Siddiqi, advocates Supreme Court, urged CJP Isa to relinquish his robes with honour on Oct 25, 2024, and said that Justice Syed Mansoor …