‘Moment of reckoning’: Justice Minallah urges CJP to convene judicial conference on 27th Amendment

• Judge says external interference in courts an “undeniable reality.”
• Adds accountability used to “pressurise” judges refusing to comply.
• Urges open dialogue on “threats” to judicial independence.
  

ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court’s Justice Athar Minallah has written a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi on the 27th Constitutional Amendment, terming it a “moment of reckoning” for the judiciary and seeking a judicial conference to discuss the matter.

In a seven-page letter — also circulated to all judges of the Supreme Court, dated October 8, 2025 — Justice Minallah also expressed deep concern over what he described as the “continued capture” of the institution.

Justice Minallah opposed the proposed constitutional amendments, saying that preparations are being made to house a new Constitutional Court within the building of the Federal Shariat Court “even before Parliament had considered the plan”.

The apex court judge said he was recording it as “a solemn duty to the Constitution” to place on record how “destiny was being shaped behind the marble walls of the last resort of justice.”

“Regrettably, the Supreme Court chose to stand beside the forces that had attacked the independence of a constitutional court trusted by the people, so much so that the minutes of two full court meetings, for obvious reasons, remained concealed from public view,” Justice Minallah added.

He warned that institutions “can be destroyed in no time through fear, surrender, or submission to the powers.”

“Our jurisprudence has too often bowed before might and power instead of standing on the side of the people,” he wrote, recalling that the “unconstitutional” removal and subsequent “judicial execution” of the elected prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto remains one of the gravest and most unpardonable betrayals of our oath and of the people’s trust.”

Justice Minallah said the persecution of Benazir Bhutto, disqualification and “humiliation” of Nawaz Sharif, and the “victimisation” of Imran Khan were “not isolated events but a continuation of a pattern of suppression of the people’s will when the interests of the unelected elite were threatened.”

“The reality is known to all within these walls and external interference is no longer an open secret; it is a reality and undeniable truth. Yet we continue to pretend otherwise. The casualty are those who dare to speak the truth as has happened in the case of the Islamabad High Court. Accountability is used as a weapon to tame and control judges who refuse to bend and abdicate fidelity to their oath and the Constitution.”

The apex court judge said that the truth recorded by six “courabracklyus” judges of the Islamabad High Court through a letter and later affirmed by “fearless” judges of other high courts through responses placed before the apex court during the judicial proceedings was an opportunity for redemption of the “wrongs” committed.

He sought the convening of a judicial conference to enable open dialogue among judges of the Supreme Court and high courts on “threats” that could undermine judicial independence and hinder the judiciary’s constitutional role in safeguarding citizens’ fundamental rights.