A top court bench comprising Justices Jamal Mandokhel, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Ayesha Malik, Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Musarrat Hilali, Naeem Afghan and Shahid Bilal took up the matter
ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-Oct 8th, 2025) The Supreme Court of Pakistan conducted a live-streamed hearing on petitions challenging the 26th Constitutional Amendment, with Justice Aminuddin Khan heading an eight-member constitutional bench.
The bench also included Justices Jamal Mandokhel, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Ayesha Malik, Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Musarrat Hilali, Naeem Afghan and Shahid Bilal.
During the proceedings, Hamid Khan Advocate, representing the Lahore Bar and Lahore High Court Bar Association, argued that the 26th Amendment was rushed through Parliament at night on October 20–21, 2024, without due process.
He requested that the case be heard by the full court as constituted at the time of the amendment, which would form a sixteen-member bench including eight additional judges from that period.
Justice Aminuddin remarked that the Court relies on the Constitution, and until an amendment is declared invalid, the existing Constitution remains in force.
Justice Mandokhel said that the petitioners appeared before the bench formed under the 26th Amendment, and Justice Hilali emphasized that the amendment has not been suspended, and petitioners are challenging it as part of the Constitution.
Hamid Khan highlighted that the amendment affected the formation of benches, transferring authority from the Chief Justice and impacting the Judicial Commission, where judges became a minority. He clarified that his arguments focused on the amendment’s procedural and structural effects rather than its substantive merits.
Justice Aminuddin questioned the Court’s authority to form a full court for the hearing, while Justice Ayesha Malik and Justice Naeem Afghan observed that there is no restriction under judicial orders for constituting a full court, and the Court can rely on Article 187 of the Constitution for such matters.
Justice Mandokhel and Hamid Khan discussed whether all Supreme Court judges should be considered part of the constitutional bench for this case, with Khan asserting that the concept of a constitutional bench was introduced by the 26th Amendment.
Justice Aminuddin cautioned that ignoring these provisions would undermine the Supreme Court’s authority.
After arguments on the formation of the bench were completed, the Court adjourned further proceedings until Thursday (tomorrow) at 11:30am. The hearing on the petitions challenging the 26th Amendment began on January 27, 2025, and has been live-streamed for public access.
