ISLAMABAD Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary on Tuesday observed that through the 18th Amendment parliamentary form of government has been established in its real form in the country and Prime Minister has become powerful, as most of the executive powers have been shifted to him. The Chief Justice passed these remarks while heading a 17-member bench of the apex court which was hearing a number of identical petitions, challenging certain provisions of the 18th Amendment, particularly the formation of Judicial Commission and Parliamentary Committee for the appointment of judges in superior courts. He said: Though PMs power in the 18th Amendment has enhanced but under Article 175A his role for the appointment of judges has been eliminated. He observed that so far none of the counsel has succeeded to satisfy the court on the new procedure of judges appointment. Attorney General for Pakistan Maulvi Anwar-ul-Haq again informed the court on Tuesday that Raza Rabbani, Chairman of 18th Amendment Implementation Commission, would appear before the larger bench today. Salman Akram Raja, counsel for the civil society group, completed his arguments. He argued that Article 175A would not diminish the independence of judiciary. He said: Collegium for the appointment of judges in superior court is under stress in India. Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk asked him, Then you are against Article 175A. Raja immediately replied, no but said he wanted collegium plus that besides Chief Justice, senior judges, Attorney General, Law Ministry and the Parliamentarians should also be involved in judges appointment. Justice Tassadaq Hussain Jilani stated that prima facie there will be three casualties for the appointment of judges according to article 175A, adding, You wanted to give power to the Parliamentary Committee, whose members would not be elected by the Parliamentarians. Justice Khalil-ur-Ramday asked the learned counsel to cite any country where Parliamentary Committee has veto power. Justice Saqib Nisar, in support of Salman, said that that in United States the Senate committee approves the nomination for appointment. Justice Ramday said that in the US Constitution it was not written that the committee has the veto power; it is just the tradition, which empowers it to veto the nomination. Salman stated that there was a trend in the West to involve other sections of the society. Justice Jilani said: The trend is to strike a balance between executive and judiciary. Justice Ramday remarked that in the West they were moving away from executive and giving power to judiciary, but in Pakistan its vice versa. The Chief Justice said that there was nothing redundant in the Constitution and even a full stop (.) and comma (,) have meanings. He asked the civil societys counsel that what would be the role of Parliamentary Committee, urging him to see the ground realities of Pakistan. Justice Saqib said that Hamid Khan had attacked the Parliamentary Committee, while senior lawyer Abdul Hafeez Pirzada was against the new procedure of appointment. He asked Salman, Did you have any suggestion that Article 175A survive as a whole. About the proportional representation system for appointment of women and minorities on reserved seats, the Chief Justice said that the system had deprived minorities of their right of electing their representatives. Justice Ramday said that Christian, Hindu and Sikh MNAs were not the representatives of minorities but they represent political parties whose member they are. Justice Jawwad S Khawaja remarked that there were 75 women and minority MNAs in the National Assembly about whom the voters have not cast their votes. Justice Ramday questioned, Does the minorities have the same right at par with Muslims in electing their representatives. Salman Akram Raja completed his arguments and now Sheikh Akram and Rasheed A Rizvi would give rebuttals. The case was adjourned for Wednesday.