The current constitutional surveillance in Pakistan centers squarely on the immediate and consequential fallout from the ratification of the Twenty-Seventh Constitutional Amendment, recently signed into law by the Presidency. This amendment fundamentally reconfigures the judicial architecture by establishing a Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), a new entity explicitly tasked with adjudicating constitutional cases, thereby divesting the Supreme Court of Pakistan of this pivotal and critical jurisdiction. The central contention surrounding this legislative action is the provision that delegates the appointment of FCC judges to the executive branch, a mechanism that, according to legal critics, constitutes a deliberate strategy to curtail the judiciary’s institutional autonomy and powers. The government, conversely, has framed this institutional shift as a necessary measure designed to alleviate the considerable case burden on the superior judiciary and accelerate the delivery of justice to the citizenry.
The immediate reaction from within the judiciary confirmed the gravity of the constitutional crisis, as two esteemed justices of the Supreme Court, Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, tendered their resignations in direct protest within hours of the amendment’s enactment. Justice Shah articulated that the amendment represents a “grave assault” on the foundational constitutional document, warning that it “dismantles the Supreme Court of Pakistan” and achieves the subjugation of the judiciary to executive control, thereby imperiling the core principles of constitutional democracy. He asserted that continued tenure in a court stripped of its fundamental authority to examine constitutional questions would amount to silent acquiescence in a profound constitutional wrong. Justice Minallah echoed this stark assessment, concluding in his resignation that the Constitution he had sworn an oath to defend “is no more,” lending weight to concerns previously raised regarding the potential impact on the nation’s constitutional order.
Concurrently with the judicial re-engineering, the amendments also instituted a significant restructuring within the command apparatus of the nation’s defense forces. Specifically, the constitutional changes formalized the elevation of Pakistan’s Army Chief, General Syed Asim Munir, to the newly established position of Chief of Defense Forces. This statutory change places the entire operational command of the Navy and Air Force under his authority, in addition to the Army. This development must be noted as a corresponding constitutional adjustment that solidifies changes within the powerful military establishment, running parallel to the profound structural and jurisdictional modifications imposed upon the apex of the judicial branch.
