SC seeks record of parliamentary debate on 18th Amendment

Hearing of petitions against 18th Amendment is underway in the Supreme Court, Dunya News reported. The SC has demanded to present record of the parliamentary debate on the 18th amendment. The chief justice said that hearing of the case is not dangerous for system and democracy. A 17-member larger bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is hearing the case. Advocate Akram Sheikh argued that the procedure for appointing judges was not included in the mandate of the parliamentary committee. He further said that the amendment had not been translated into regional languages. He also requested for Article 175, dealing with the procedure of appointing judges, as null and void. The governments advocate Mehmood A Shaikh on Tuesday submitted an unconditional apology in the court yesterday. Federations lawyer Waseem Sajjad told the court on Tuesday that Raza Rabbani would like to defend the amendment case in the court. On this, the Chief Justice said that Rabbani is allowed to appear before the court, adding that the court would be pleased to hear him.