The High Court of Sindh rejected on Monday a petition to prevent the Federal Cabinet from approving the proposed 26th Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan.

The petitioners requested the court to halt the Federal Cabinet of Pakistan from approving the amendment. The High Court rejected the former request based on the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s precedent that bars the courts from intervening in legislation unless it is for enacted legislation that is “demonstrably unconstitutional.” The petitioner also requested that the amendment be made public for a sixty-day minimum debate. However, the court did not find a constitutional legislative procedure provided by the constitution for the latter request.

The proposed 26th Amendment adds supreme courts at the federal and provisional levels with exclusive final appellate jurisdiction over constitutional issues. The amendment proposal would also impose a three-year term limit on the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and a retirement age of sixty-eight.

Critics argue that the bill undermines the authority of the country’s Supreme Court. Abbasi pointed out that the creation of a Federal Constitutional Court is incompatible with Pakistan’s precedent-based common law system, as the bill restricts the Supreme Court’s ability to handle constitutional disputes.Lawyer Salahuddin Ahmed echoed this concern, stating, “For all practical purposes … the bill abolishes the Supreme Court of Pakistan,” and believes the amendment violates the separation of powers. In his appeal to the UN, former prime minister Imran Khan argued that appointing the chief justice of the Federal Constitutional Court through a National Assembly Committee undermines the separation of powers and enables targeted judicial abuses against him.

Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi also expressed concern for the erosion of judicial independence because the bill allows “High Court judges to be transferred against their will” and “judges to be disciplined on the basis of alleged inefficiency.” In addition, Abbasi contended that the bill would undermine individual rights by limiting the High Courts’ power to adjudicate on writ petitions.

A constitutional amendment proposal ordinarily requires two-thirds approval from both houses of the Parliament of Pakistan and the President of Pakistan to amend the constitution.