Islamabad: The Supreme Court's Constitutional Bench on Tuesday allowed the live streaming of the hearing concerning the pleas filed against the 26th Constitutional Amendment. The bench will start hearing the arguments of the counsels of the petitioners regarding the constitution of full court for the hearing of the petitions today (Wednesday).
The development comes as an eight-member Constitutional Bench, headed by Justice Aminud Din Khan heard the petitions against the constitutional tweaks after a gap of nine months. "Things have to be managed, we are all serving the nation", remarked Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan. Whereas referring to the court's unanimous verdict greenlighting streaming of the hearing on the SC's YouTube channel, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail said: "It is a big case, we will handle it in an orderly manner."
Other members of the bench include Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha A. Malik, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Musarrat Hilali, Justice Naeem Akhter Afghan and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan.
Multiple parties, including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JIP), Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), as well as various bar associations and former presidents of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), had challenged the amendment back in October 2024.
At the start of the hearing, lawyer Shahid Jameel Khan, representing Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, stated that objections had been raised against their plea for a full-court bench, and an appeal had already been filed. He requested that the chamber appeal be decided first.
Jameel further said there were also objections to the formation of the current bench, so their petition should be heard along with other related cases. After consultation, the bench directed that the petition be numbered.
Later, Khawaja Hussain Ahmad, representing Afrasiab Khattak, requested the court to allow live streaming of the proceedings.
Justice Aminuddin Khan said that notices had already been issued for both petitions, explaining that if objections were raised against the bench, another bench would hear them; otherwise, the same bench would proceed with the live-streaming request.
He added that the issue of the full-court formation would be decided first, and the live-streaming matter would be addressed afterward. Khawaja Hussain Ahmad remarked that the entire nation wants to see what happens in the court.
Justice Jamal Mandokhail commented, 'Our tragedy is that we misuse everything. We wanted to use live streaming to educate people, but instead, we were exposed through it.'
Additional Attorney General Chaudhry Aamir Rehman then appeared before the bench. Justice Ayesha Malik asked for the government's stance on live streaming-whether it should continue or not.
Chaudhry Aamir Rehman replied that live streaming falls under the administrative side. Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar responded, 'So, you agree with whatever decision the bench makes.'
Later, the bench, led by Justice Aminuddin Khan, approved the live-streaming request and adjourned the hearing until today (Wednesday) 11:30 AM.