Parliament's resolution on 16th amendment verdict

It is unfortunate that the parliament has passed a resolution calling for legal steps to nullify the Supreme Court's verdict that scraps the 16th amendment from the Constitution. The amendment in question, which gives power to remove a SC judge on grounds of misconduct and incapacity, has been seen by the High Court and Supreme Court as going against the grain of the Constitution that provides distinct powers to its three organs—namely the executive, legislative and judicial branches.

That is the fundamental structure of a democratic constitution—the distribution of power between these three organs of the state and the check and balance that exists between them. This division gives the highest law making authority to the legislative, the highest implementing power to the executive and the highest adjudicating power to the judiciary. All of these branches operate in harmony and by respecting each other's domains under the rubric of the Constitution. We must remember that it is the people who make the Constitution that then distributes this power to the three branches in a way that no single organ has monopoly of power. Thus the crucial role of the judiciary is to act as the guardian of the Constitution which is adopted by the people. The passing of the resolution in parliament challenges this delicate balance of power.

In the scheme of things the parliament oversees the functioning of the executive and tries to formulate laws to ensure good governance. The judiciary, as the ultimate guardian of the Constitution keeps watch over the executive and legislative to make sure laws do not, in any way, violate the constitution. By negating the distribution of power ensured by the constitution, the passing of this resolution will have far reaching consequences.  However, the review petition is the right way to go about this as the legal structure, as envisioned by the Constitution, should not be violated.