What did Law Minister say about the Constitutional Amendments?

As the legislature goes to vote on the 26th Constitutional Amendments after much confusion and controversy, federal Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar offered some clarifications on the bill.

Talking to the press on Sunday afternoon, the Minister praised Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for helping pass the amendments before offering a few clarifications on some points.

“The Chief Justice will head the judicial commission. Under the leadership of the Chief Justice, the Judicial Commission will formulate Constitutional Benches,” he said. When asked about the amendments that Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) wanted to be incorporated into the draft, he stated, “JUI-F has given five suggestions for the amendments. JUI-F’s suggestions about interest [Riba] have been added to the amendments.”

He then talked about provincial courts. “A mechanism for provincial constitutional benches has been included in the draft.”

He confirmed that the Chief Justice will be the head of the judicial commission while four senior most judges will be part of the judicial commission.

“The amendment includes the matter of the evaluation of the performance of high court judges. This is a new thing, performance evaluation,” he observed.

The Chief Justice will have a tenure of three years, the minister stated, adding that one non-Muslim member will be part of the judicial commission.