ISLAMABAD: The Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) on Wednesday filed an application with the Supreme Court, seeking a live stream of proceedings related to the challenges against the 26th Amendment to the Constitution.

The application, filed by Advocate Ajmal Ghaffar Toor under Order 33 Rule 6 of the Supreme Court Rules, emphasised the public importance of the petitions, arguing that the case touches on fundamental principles, including the rule of law, the supremacy of the Constitution and the enforcement of fundamental rights.

The application said that ensuring tra­nsparency in these proceedings would propagate the democratic principles of open justice and freedom of the press.

It said that since there couldn’t be any case more important than the present case, it was critical that vast public access should be provided through live streaming of the proceedings of the case as well as connected Constitution petitions, as the entire nation was interested in the transparency and fair outcome of the present proceedings.

LHCBA says ensuring transparency in the case will propagate open justice, press freedom

The application highlighted that the petitioner had challenged the 26th Amendment since the matter concerned enforcement of the fundamental rights, especially Articles 8, 9 and 10A of the Constitution, the rights arising therefrom, the independence of the judiciary, rule of law, trichotomy and separation of powers, and interpretation of Articles 175 and 239 of the Constitution.

At present, there could not be a more important case than the instant case because it involved the upholding of the foundational principles of the supremacy of the Constitution, the rule of law and the enforcement of the fundamental rights it stressed.

The application argued that the challenges to the 26th Amendment involved an important question that the amendment was not in conformity with the text and spirit of the Constitution as well as its salient features and was not repugnant to Articles 8, 9, 10A, 175 and 239 of the Constitution. Therefore, the present matter garnered the interest of the entire nation.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court was asked for an early hearing of the challenges to the 26th Amendment by the Supreme Court’s full court.

The application was filed before the Supreme Court by Afrasiab Khattak through his counsel Khwaja Ahmad Hosain, in which a request has been made that the Supreme Court should order its registrar to fix the petition for hearing before the full court of the Supreme Court, as has been decided in accordance with law, or refer the petition to the full court to determine the appropriate forum to exercise jurisdiction in respect of matters raised by this petition.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2025