18th amendment: Hearing underway in SC

Supreme Court resumed the hearing of the petitions challenging some provisions of the 18th amendment on Monday. A 17-member bench, under the head of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, heard the case. During the hearing, Abdul Hafeez Pirzada argued that the article 175-A be scrapped from the 18th amendment for the freedom of judiciary could not be maintained even if the law minister and attorney general be excluded from the judicial commission. Pirzada contended that the new procedure of appointing people totally clashed with the constitution, adding that Public would not accept any of the laws that are against the basic human rights. He said that the new law has done away with the consultation between the President and the Chief Justice.