ISLAMABAD:
The newly constituted Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Monday began hearing cases at the Islamabad High Court (IHC) building, with the chief justice’s courtroom previously used by IHC judge Mohsin Akhtar Kayani.
The court, formed under the 27th Constitutional Amendment, also expanded to seven judges with the induction of Justice Syed Arshad Hussain Shah and Justice Rozi Khan Barrech.
Justice Shah served as the Chief Justice of the Gilgit-Baltistan High Court from 2019 to 2022, while Justice Barrech was elevated to FCC from the Balochistan High Court (BHC), where he had been the Chief Justice since June this year.
According to sources, the FCC will be permanently established in the IHC building located on Constitution Avenue in Islamabad, while the IHC itself will be shifted to its old building in Sector G-10 of the federal capital, and the relocation process is expected to be completed by January.
Items from the third floor of the current IHC building have already been transferred to the G-10 premises. Deputy Registrar Mohammad Asad has been appointed supervisor of transfer of records.
In Courtroom No. 2 of the IHC – formerly the courtroom of Justice Kayani – a simple handwritten note reading “Chief Justice of the Federal Constitutional Court of Pakistan” was pasted at the entrance.
On Monday, the FCC officially began proceedings after briefing three benches. The first bench, headed by FCC Chief Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, included Justice Ali Baqar Najafi and Justice Syed Arshad Hussain Shah.
The second bench included Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi and Justice KK Agha, while the third bench included Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Rozi Khan Barrech.
The proceedings in the courtroom of Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan began with recitation of the Holy Quran. During about half an hour of proceedings, the bench heard all five cases, although lawyers did not appear in two of them.
The bench considered the appeal of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) against the Sindh High Court’s decision regarding the use of public parks in Karachi for commercial sports activities.
KMC’s lawyer argued that the matter was about the powers of KMC and that the corporation had approved the use of public parks for sports activities through a resolution. The SHC had held that KMC did not have such authority, which prompted the appeal.
The court noted that the matter involved public interest and passed an order staying the SHC judgment. He also sent notices to all parties and adjourned the hearing till November 27.
The petitioner’s lawyer said contempt cases have also been filed against them. The court ordered the SHC not to initiate contempt proceedings. The bench also heard a case related to the availability of life-saving medicines.
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General Aamir Rehman appeared before the court on the court’s request. The chief justice noted that it was a matter of public interest and the government needed to review the availability of medicines.
The bench sought a report from DRAP regarding the availability of drugs and adjourned the hearing indefinitely.
