By IANS,
Islamabad: Pakistan’s Supreme Court Thursday asked the government to review in three months a key constitutional amendment, which gives parliament the power to appoint judges, and refused to scrap the amendment as sought by a joint plea.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry announced the verdict on a batch of petitions challenging certain clauses of the 18th Amendment, DawnNews reported.
The apex court said that Article 175-A, detailing the amendments to the procedure of appointing superior court judges, be sent back to parliament for review.
“Parliament is asked to review Article 175-A, for it has harmed judiciary’s freedom,” the chief justice said, adding that the consultation with the chief justice was necessary for the appointment of judges.
“To enable parliament to proceed and re-examine the matter in terms of the observations made above, these petitions are adjourned to a date in the last week of January 2011,” said the order of the 17-member judge bench.
In an earlier judgment Sep 30, the judge bench had reserved its verdict after over four months of hearing on 22 petitions challenging various aspects of the amendment, including the procedure of appointment of superior court judges. The bench started hearing the petitions May 24.
The judgment comes amid a stand-off between the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government and the judiciary over various issues including the reopening of corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari in Switzerland.
According to a government ordinance, Zardari and several others have been granted amnesty in graft cases. The National Reconciliation Ordinance was introduced by former President Pervez Musharraf that paved the way for the return of exiled leader Banazir Bhutto and her husband Zardari.
The corruption cases against the politicians were closed under NRO. However, the apex court struck down the ordinance in December, 2009 and decided to re-open all such cases.