Yielding to several letters from Supreme Court judges, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi called a full court meeting today (Friday), after Justice Salahuddin Panhwar became the third judge to request that he convene the judges to deliberate on the 27th Constitutional Amendment. Justice Panwhar, in a two-page letter, requested the CJP to call the full court to examine the amendment clause by clause and study its implications against Articles 175, 175A, 189, 190, 191 and 209 of the Constitution – provisions which deal with the judiciary. Headed by the CJP, the full court meeting will be held at the Supreme Court building before the Friday prayers. Justice Panwhar stated he was writing the letter “not in protest but in … the duty that binds every judge who has sworn to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution”. “There comes a time when silence is not caution but abdication. I believe such a time may now be upon us,” the letter read. “From what has been foreshadowed, this amendment may unsettle the careful balance that the framers intended,” Justice Panwhar wrote, warning that the amendment may “touch upon the security of tenure, the composition of benches, the appointment and removal of judges, or even the financial and administrative autonomy of courts”. “Let us test each provision of the amendment by a single question: does it strengthen the independence of the judiciary, or diminish it?” Justice Panwhar’s letter suggested, stating that if the independence of the judiciary is diminished, then judges must say so, “not in anger but in truth”. Meanwhile, prominent lawyer Asad Rahim Khan also moved a petition before the Supreme Court seeking a declaration that, in the presence of Entry 55 of the Federal Legislative List, the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, as provided in the original Constitution of 1973, cannot be abridged or abolished through an act of parliament. The petition also pleaded before the Supreme Court to take measures for securing the independence of the judiciary, and such further or better relief as may be appropriate in the facts and circumstances of the case may also be granted.
CJP summons full court today after another judge writes letter
Published on: November 14, 2025 3:34 AM