Justice Amin-ud-Din urges reliance on 26th Amendment until new constitutional tweaks

Supreme Court's Justice Amin-ud-Din on Wednesday called for relying on the existing 26th Constitutional Amendment until there is any fresh tweaks made to the Constitution.

Justice Amin-ud-Din's remarks came as an eight-member constitutional bench led by him, heard pleas filed against the contested tweaks made by parliament in October 2024.

Other members of the bench include Justice Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha A Malik, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Musarrat Hilali, Justice Naeem Akhter Afghan and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan.

The hearing was live-streamed on SC's official YouTube channel in line with the apex court's decision. 

The development comes a day after the bench heard the petitions against the constitutional tweaks after a gap of nine months on Tuesday wherein the court allowed the live streaming of the case.

Multiple parties, including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), as well as various bar associations and former presidents of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), had challenged the amendment back in October 2024.

The tweaks in the constitution, which have since come into effect, require the legislature to pick the chief justice, fixing the top post's tenure, and forming constitutional benches.

26th Amendment in a glance

• Chief Justice of Pakistan's (CJP) tenure fixed at three years.
• Constitutional benches to be established at the SC and high courts.
• Senior-most judge of each bench to serve as presiding officer.
• Parliamentary committee to nominate new CJP from panel of three most senior judges.
• Committee to propose name to PM, who will then forward it to president for final approval.
• JCP, led by CJP and three others, responsible for appointment of SC judges.
• JCP to monitor judges’ performance, report any concerns to Supreme Judicial Council.
• Complete eradication of Riba (interest) from country by January 1, 2028.

This is a developing story and is being updated with more details.