Justice Musarrat Hilali of the Supreme Court (SC) has refused appointment to the newly-established Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) over health concerns, reports said Friday.
A private media outlet quoted sources as claiming that Justice Hilali was under consideration for appointment to the FCC but expressed her unwillingness to serve.
The refusal came a day after Justice Hilali’s bench was also delisted due to health issues.
It merits a mention that the report comes a day after both houses of Parliament approved the 27th Constitutional Amendment, paving way for the creation of the FCC.
The FCC would be headed by its own chief justice and staffed by an equal number of judges from each of Pakistan’s four provinces as well as from Islamabad. It would adjudicate in disputes between governments, either the federal government and a state government or when different state governments clash.
Judges of the FCC would retire at 68, unlike SC judges, who retire at 65. The FCC chief justice’s tenure would be capped at three years.
On the recommendation of Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif, Justice Ameenuddin has been appointed as the court’s first chief justice.
Meanwhile, senior puisne judge Mansoor Ali Shah and apex court Justice Athar Minallah have tendered their resignations from their posts.
Both the judges forwarded their resignations to President Asif Ali Zardari following the enactment of the much-touted 27th Constitutional Amendment.
In his 13-page-long resignation, Justice Shah termed the amendment as “a grave assault on the Constitution of Pakistan”, which “dismantles the Supreme Court of Pakistan, subjugates the judiciary to executive control, and strikes at the very heart of our constitutional democracy”.
In his resignation letter, Justice Minallah registered protest against the amendment, declaring that the Constitution he swore to protect “no longer exists”.
He wrote that his oath as a judge was not merely to a constitution in form, but to “the Constitution in spirit.” He said that despite his repeated attempts to believe otherwise, “what is left of it is a mere shadow — one that breathes neither its spirit, nor speaks the words of the people to whom it belongs”.
Justice Minallah also revealed that prior to the passage of the amendment, he had written to the chief justice expressing serious concerns about its implications for the constitutional order. However, he lamented that his fears had now been realised “against a canvas of selective silence and inaction”.