What is a constitution for?
A democracy’s architecture is that of deliberate friction. Not a system glitch, this is its most vital safeguard. The interplay between the executive, legislative and judicial branches guarantees the separation…
Killing the Constitution
“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command” — 1984 by George Orwell PAKISTAN has witnessed military dictators…
LG constitutional amendment
SOMETHING extraordinary, if not unprecedented, has happened in the parliamentary history of Pakistan. The Punjab Assembly passed a unanimous resolution on Oct 28, with significant support from the PTI-aligned opposition, proposing that…
A constitution without spirit
Karl Marx, never one to shy away from a rhetorical flourish, began ‘The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte’ by declaring that great historical events repeat themselves, “the first time as…
KP’s constitutional double trouble
Recent developments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have raised serious constitutional concerns. A situation has emerged where a session of the provincial assembly was convened and a new chief minister was purportedly…
A constitutional moment
When women parliamentarian moved for leave to introduce the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2025, seeking changes to Articles 51 and 106, it was easy for many to dismiss the motion as…
Crypto meets the constitution
Under Article 89 of the constitution, the president may promulgate an ordinance when parliament is not in session, and it shall be published in the official gazette. Before jumping into…
The withering Constitution
THE country has recently emerged from a war. The Modi government failed to achieve its three intended objects — cowing a nuclear-armed country of 225 million, establishing India as a…
‘Unconstitutional’ windfall tax—II
Discriminatory without intelligible differentia [Points 7 & 8] The Supreme Court of Pakistan in Federation of Pakistan through Chairman FBR and others v Hazrat Hussain and others (2018 SCMR 939)…
‘Unconstitutional’ windfall tax–I
Banks have regular windfall income from dealing in foreign currencies – oxymoronic treatment by SRO. 1588(I)/2023 dated 21.11.2023. In Pakistan, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is de facto legislature (sic)…
