The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) (JUI-F) has submitted a draft constitutional amendment in the National Assembly, seeking a ban on the appointment of dual nationals as judges of the Supreme Court and the provincial high courts.
The Constitutional (Amendment) Bill, 2024, submitted to the NA Secretariat by JUIF lawmaker Noor Alam Khan seeks alterations to Articles 177, 193 and 208 to ensure no senior judge holds foreign nationality. In its proposed amendment to Article 208, the bill states that any person holding dual nationality or citizenship of any foreign country “shall not be entitled to appoint as an officer or servant of any court.”
In the bill’s statement of objectives and reasons, the MNA states that judges of high courts and the Supreme Court must have stakes in the country in which they hold a “position of authority, privileged trustworthy [sic].” It claims that people with dual nationalities put at stake the interests of their country of origin.
“There is need to ensure the loyalty of the judges in light of Article 5 of the Constitution,” it adds.