LAHORE: A constitutional petition has been filed in the Supreme Court for including words sadiq and ameen (honest and righteous) in the text of oaths for the offices of judges and army generals like public office holders.

Barrister Zafarullah Khan of the Watan Party, in his petition, also asks the Supreme Court not to take over the jurisdiction of the parliament and seeks accountability of the judges by parliamentary committees since, what he claims, the judiciary has failed to conduct its own accountability.

The petitioner also seeks accountability of army officers/generals through the parliament, which is the representative of public. He contends that many times in the history of Pakistan selected persons have taken over the power from the elected representatives of the public.

He says the accountability of all selected and elected persons is the privilege of parliamentary committees being representatives of the people.

He states the recent judgments by the Supreme Court interpreting articles 62(1)(f) and 63 (1)(g) of the Constitution have not only changed the complexion of the articles but also taken over parliament functions arbitrarily.

Barrister Khan urges the court to include the words sadiq and ameen in the oaths of judges and generals saying the parliament of the country has remained at the mercy of the judiciary and dictators.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2017