CJP Yahya Afridi calls full court session on Friday to discuss 27th amendment

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice (CJ) Yahya Afridi of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) has called a Full Court session on Friday to discuss the recently approved 27th Amendment by the Parliament, ARY News reported.

Sources said that the Full Court session will be held before the Juma prayers, while three judges of the SC have written letters to the CJ requesting the session.

An agenda of the Full Court session has also surfaced. As per the agenda, the discussion will be held on the amendments of the SC Rules 2025. The session will be held at 2 pm on November 14.

The Full Court session will also consider the matters of the status of the Senior Advocates.

Earlier, two senior judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC), Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah, resigned from their posts.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah have sent their resignation to President Asif Zardari.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah resignation comprises seven pages, has declared the 27th Amendment a severe attack on the Constitution of Pakistan.

The senior judge said that justice has moved away from the common man, and the vulnerable have become helpless in front of the powerful due to the 27th Amendment.

He said that this amendment has divided the top court of the country, and the nation has been pushed back several decades after destroying the independence of the judiciary.

He added that he cannot uphold his oath in such a court whose constitutional role has been usurped.

The judge stated that the amendment has been enacted by a government whose constitutional status is currently under review.

Furthermore, such leadership of the Supreme Court accepted the amendment despite its own constitutional status being questionable.

Pakistan has always had a single Supreme Court, and it is our joint heritage, but the 27th Amendment has dismantled the structure of the SC and erected a constitutional court above the Supreme Court, he added.

He said that the 27th Amendment was approved in the parliament without any consultation, debate, or opinion of the judiciary.

The sole purpose of the amendment is to give the government the power to place judges of their choice.