Former senator Afrasiab Khattak on Thursday joined the growing chorus of voices who have approached the top court, challenging the recently passed 26th Constitutional Amendment.
On Thursday, the former senator filed a petition in the Supreme Court, requesting it to strike down the amendment on the grounds of 'procedural impropriety', if so determined.
Advocate Khwaja Hossain had filed the petition on behalf of Khattak.
In the petition, Khattak further requested the top court to strike down those sections of the amendment that relate to the independence of the judiciary, including the performance evaluation of judges, the process for appointment of a chief justice and the formation of constitutional benches.
The petitioner requested the top court to declare that no amendment to the Constitution can validly be passed where election disputes are pending regarding the status of such members whose vote is necessary to achieve the prescribed numerical threshold outlined in Article 239 - two-thirds majority.
He also requested the top court to form a judicial commission to determine if the required votes cast in favour of the 26th Amendment were voluntarily rendered, absent any coercion or other unlawful inducement.
Khattak further urged the court to direct political parties to use their best efforts to ensure that election disputes pending before respective election tribunals are decided within a stipulated time frame to enable the Supreme Court to determine whether sufficient lawfully elected members had cast votes in favour of the 26th Constitutional Amendment.
He further requested the court to declare that the original Article 175A(3) of the Constitution holds the field and to direct the government to notify the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court - Justice Mansoor Ali Shah - as the next Chief Justice of Pakistan in accordance with the original Article 175A(3).