The chief justice had received several letters from Supreme Court judges expressing concern over its implications for judicial independence.

Justice Salahuddin Panwhar became the third judge to formally request the CJP to convene a full court session. Earlier, Justices Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah had also written letters making the same demand. Both resigned on Thursday evening in protest against the 27th Amendment.

Justice Panwhar, in a detailed two-page letter, urged the CJP to examine the amendment clause by clause, saying it could affect key constitutional articles related to the judiciary, including Articles 175, 175A, 189, 190, 191 and 209. The full court meeting will take place at the Supreme Court building before Friday prayers.

In his letter, Justice Panwhar wrote that his request was “not in protest but in … the duty that binds every judge who has sworn to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.” He warned that “silence is not caution but abdication” and said the amendment could “unsettle the careful balance” designed by the Constitution’s framers.

He further cautioned that the new law might impact “the security of tenure, the composition of benches, the appointment and removal of judges, or even the financial and administrative autonomy of courts.” Justice Panwhar suggested that the court test each clause of the amendment by asking whether it strengthens or weakens judicial independence.

The judge also proposed that the Supreme Court engage the Law and Justice Commission and the National Judicial Policy Making Committee for technical input. He recommended consulting the Pakistan Bar Council and provincial bar councils, noting that “the bar and the bench are twin guardians of justice.”

Read more: 27th Amendment: SC justices Mansoor Ali Shah, Athar Minallah tender resignations

Justice Panwhar’s letter emphasized the need for a “principled yet temperate” response to the amendment, stating that Parliament’s power to amend the Constitution is broad but “not without limit.” He added, “The Constitution was not clay to be moulded at will; it was a covenant between the state and citizen.”

Meanwhile, lawyer Asad Rahim Khan filed a petition in the Supreme Court, arguing that Parliament cannot alter the Court’s original jurisdiction under the 1973 Constitution. The petition requested the Supreme Court to take steps to safeguard judicial independence.

Earlier, President Asif Ali Zardari signed the 27th Constitutional Amendment into law after the Prime Minister’s advice. According to official sources, the president is also expected to administer the oath to the chief justice of the newly established Federal Constitutional Court, created under the amendment.