ISLAMABAD  -  A group of prominent lawyers including Abid Zuberi, Shafqat Mehm­ood and Munir Kakar on Monday filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging a set of pro­posed constitutional amendments. The pe­tition has named the federal government, the four provincial govern­ments, the National Assem­bly, the Senate and other relevant parties as respon­dents. The petitioners ar­gued that the proposed con­stitutional amendments undermine the separation of powers and threaten the independence of the judi­ciary. They have request­ed that the Supreme Court declare the proposed draft unconstitutional and pre­vent the government from moving forward with the amendments. The petition also called for a halt to the process of presenting the bill for the constitution­al amendment in the Par­liament. In case the Par­liament proceeds with the amendment, the petition­ers request that the presi­dent of Pakistan be barred from signing it into law. The petition stressed the need to protect the judicia­ry’s independence, pow­ers and jurisdiction, as­serting that the parliament does not have the authority to withdraw judicial pow­ers or interfere with the judiciary’s functions. The government’s efforts to introduce the 26th Consti­tutional Amendment faced a setback in just the initial phase, as the federal cab­inet meeting, where the amendments were to be approved, was postponed.