27th Constitutional Amendment: Justice Athar Minallah writes to CJP

ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court Judge Justice Athar Minallah has written a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi over the prevailing constitutional and judicial situation in light of the 27th Constitutional Amendment.

In his letter, Justice Minallah expressed deep concern over what he termed the compromised independence of the judiciary, saying that it has often been undermined “from within — whether through surrender or active participation.”

“I had taken an oath to defend, protect and preserve the Constitution, but I find myself helpless because the fundamental rights guaranteed to the people have too often been reduced to mere cliché or rhetoric,” he wrote.

Justice Minallah lamented that the judiciary has at times failed to protect the rights of the people, stating, “We owe it to the people to tell them of our helplessness — and at other times, our complicity — in failing to safeguard their fundamental rights. Regrettably, those rights today stand more secure in stone than in practice. They are engraved on marble but not available to the people.”

He said that for over seven decades, the nation has suffered injustice, disillusionment, and concealment, while the judiciary has often been used to legitimize unconstitutional actions.

Referring to landmark cases, he noted that the judgments in Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan, Dosso, Nusrat Bhutto, and Zafar Ali Shah are remembered “not for their eloquence, but for the doctrines that were contrived to usurp the will of the people.”

Justice Minallah criticized what he called an “alliance between institutions and entrenched elites”, saying it has been characterized by “control, privilege, and impunity.”

“The Supreme Court, by design or omission, has too often been employed as an instrument to suppress the will of the people rather than safeguard it,” he stated.

He wrote that institutions are not built overnight but can be destroyed quickly through fear or submission, adding that the judiciary’s history “is not unblemished nor flattering.”

Justice Minallah cited the judicial execution of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as “one of the gravest and most unpardonable betrayals of our oath and the people’s trust,” saying it reflected “allegiance to an unelected usurper in uniform rather than to the Constitution.”

He said that PTI founder Imran Khan was also being victimised under the same cycle of suppression.

He added that the persecution of Benazir Bhutto, and the disqualification and harassment of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter, were part of the same pattern of elite manipulation whenever “the will of the people threatens entrenched power.”

Justice Minallah further noted that President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif were also victims of this recurring phenomenon that represents a consistent pattern of elite manipulation, wherein leaders are fostered and then ruined.

“The will of the people has repeatedly been subverted to perpetuate elite capture of the State — a betrayal that strikes at the very heart of constitutional democracy,” he concluded.