Lawyers Action Committee demands full court hear petitions challengi ng 26th Amendment “This demand is not a matter of politics but a constitutional necessity to ensure public confidence in the judiciary’s independence,” read a statement issued by former and present bar council and associations leaders on Friday.
The APLAC also rebuked what it said a misleading and factually inaccurate press statement issued by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) regarding legitimate concerns raised by the APLAC about the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) and independence of the judiciary.
The action committee said the SCBA’s claim that the lawyers endorsing the APLAC were ‘unelected representatives’ was patently false. The APLAC statement read that prominent signatories of its demand such as Abid S Zuberi, Tahir Faraz Abbassi, Munir Kakar, Shafqat Mehmood Cohan, Maqsood Buttar, Asad Manzoor Butt, Riasat Ali Azad, Salman Mansoor, Haider Imam, Rahib Buledi, Naeem Qureshi, Abdul Hafeez Lashari and Rehman Korai were all elected and had been office bearers of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and various bar associations across the country and their voices reflected the collective will of the legal fraternity.
The APLAC said any attempt to discredit such senior lawyers’ legitimacy was not only unwarranted but also detrimental to the unity and integrity of the legal profession. The statement read that it was essential to underscore that all members of the PBC and SCBA, whether previously elected or currently serving, were representatives of the legal fraternity chosen through democratic processes. They said these leaders’ voices were rooted in the trust and confidence of the legal community, and to undermine their legitimacy was to challenge the very principles of democracy and representation that the bar associations stood for.
The APLAC said the SCBA had historically been an institution that stood for the rule of law and judicial independence but it was regrettable that the current SCBA leadership had chosen to disregard the contributions of its former presidents and legal luminaries.
The action committee said the SCBA had always acknowledged, respected and regarded its former presidents as torchbearers of the bar’s principles and values. “This tradition must be upheld, not undermined,” the statement read.
The APLAC said the SCBA’s endorsement of the executive-dominated extension of the constitutional bench ignored historical lessons and undermined judicial independence. They recalled that during the lawyers’ movement of 2007, it was precisely such executive interference that had led to a judicial crisis.
They said that many of the endorsers of the APLAC statement, including former SCBA presidents and elected bar leaders, played pivotal roles in resisting such manipulations and their sacrifices and dedication restored the judiciary’s independence and cemented its role as a bulwark against unconstitutional practices.
The APLAC said the 26th constitutional amendment and its implementation by an executive-dominated Judicial Commission directly violate the constitutional principle of judicial independence enshrined in the Article 175(3) of the Constitution and the SCBA’s failure to recognise this constitutional breach was both disappointing and alarming.
The action committee it said it remained steadfast in its commitment to upholding Pakistan’s constitutional framework, ensuring judicial autonomy and protecting the rule of law. A day earlier on Thursday, SCBA President Mian Muhammad Rauf Atta had condemned a statement issued by the APLAC about the meeting of the Judicial Commission that took place on December 21, 2024.
