The standing committees on law and justice of both houses of Parliament approved on Sunday the draft of a bill for a 27th Constitutional Amendment after some changes, Senator Farooq H. Naek told reporters after a meeting that was convened to deliberate on the proposed changes.
He said that he and Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar had been authorised to make changes to some clauses of the bill, without sharing anymore details about the said clauses.
Alongside him, Tarar said they would submit a report on the proposals finalised by the committees to the Senate tomorrow (Monday).
The bill for Constitution (Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Act, 2025 was tabled before the Senate yesterday, hours after it was approved by the federal cabinet, triggering noisy protests from the opposition over the pace and scope of the proposed changes.
That initial draft of the bill proposed the creation of a Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), changes to the appointment process for high court judges, a higher cap on provincial cabinets, and changes to the military leadership structure.
Subsequently, the bill was referred to the Senate’s and National Assembly’s Committees on Law and Justice for further deliberation. The committees had met for the purpose yesterday, and the session was reconvened today.
Senate Committee on Law and Justice Chairperson Senator Farooq H. Naek and his counterpart for the National Assembly panel, MNA Chaudhry Mahmood Bashir Virk, co-chaired today’s meeting.
Lawmakers of the PTI, the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM), meanwhile, continued their boycott of the parliamentary committee today.
Tarar and Minister of State for Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik were also among those who participated in today’s meeting. Deputy Prime Minister and PML-N leader Ishaq Dar, too, briefly attended the proceedings.
PML-N Senator Khalil Tahir Sindhu, Awami National Party’s (ANP) Hidayatullah Khan, and PPP MNAs Kasim Gilani and Syed Abrar Ali Shah were also part of the joint moot, while PML-N MNA Shumaila Rana attended via video link.
Discussion remaining on 3 points: Naek
Earlier, when the meeting was paused for lunch break, Naek said while speaking to the media that “discussions on three points were yet to be completed — transfers of cases from one high court to another high court, transfer of judges from high court to another high court and Article 243 (command of the armed forces).”
The discussion on these matters would be resumed after lunch, he said, adding that some objections had been raised pertaining to the transfer of judges and cases.
“Discussions are ongoing regarding this and it is hoped that a consensus will be reached,” he further stated.
