Parliamentary committee clears full draft of 27th Constitutional Amendment

The joint parliamentary committee on law and justice approved the complete draft of the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment on Thursday, endorsing 49 clauses after detailed clause-by-clause deliberations.

The meeting, co-chaired by Senators Farooq H. Naek and Mehmood Bashir Virk, was attended by committee members including Senators Tahir Khalil Sindhu, Hidayatullah, Shahadat Awan, Zamir Hussain Ghumro, and MNAs Ali Haider Gillani, Saira Afzal Tarar, Bilal Azhar Kayani, Syed Naveed Qamar, and Abrar Shah. Officials from the Ministry of Law and Justice, including Secretary Raja Naeem Akbar, were also present.

Opposition parties — including PTI, JUI-F, PkMAP, and MWM — boycotted the session. Members from the treasury benches expressed regret over the opposition’s absence, calling it “unfortunate” and emphasising that opposition lawmakers should have participated in discussions on such a significant constitutional matter.

According to parliamentary sources, the committee approved all 49 clauses of the amendment’s draft, which was earlier cleared by the federal cabinet. The draft is expected to be presented before Parliament on Friday.

Sources added that the government sought additional time to review two proposed changes — the ANP’s suggestion to rename Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and a proposal to increase provincial assembly seats in Balochistan.

The committee also endorsed provisions related to the establishment of constitutional courts and amendments to Article 243. Another clause extended the timeframe for concluding pending cases from six months to one year, stipulating that cases not pursued within that period would be considered disposed of.