ISLAMABAD: Two judges of Pakistan’s Supreme Court resigned in protest against the 27th constitutional amendment hours after it was signed into law on Thursday, saying the fresh changes were a “grave assault” on the constitution.
The 27th constitutional amendment seeks the formation of a Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), which would hear and decide cases relating to Pakistan’s constitution instead of the Supreme Court.
The FCC’s judges will be appointed by the government, a move critics say will clip the judiciary’s powers. Pakistan’s government has said the FCC will help reduce the judiciary’s burden and ensure speedy justice to the masses.
Hours after President Asif Ali Zardari signed the amendment into law, Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah resigned from their posts.
“The Twenty-Seventh Constitutional Amendment stands as a grave assault on the Constitution of Pakistan,” Justice Shah wrote in his resignation letter addressed to the president, a copy of which is available with Arab News.
