ISLAMABAD:
The newly constituted Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Monday began hearing cases at the Islamabad High Court (IHC) building, where the Chief Justice’s courtroom was earlier used by IHC Justice 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 of Appeal from 2019 to 2022, while Justice Barrech was elevated to the FCC from the Balochistan High Court (BHC), where he had served as the Chief Justice since June this year.
According to sources, the FCC will be permanently established in the IHC building located on Islamabad’s Constitution Avenue, while the IHC itself will be shifted back to its old building in the G-10 sector of the federal capital, with the relocation process expected to be completed by January.
Items from the third floor of the current IHC building have already been moved to the G-10 premises. Assistant Registrar Mohammad Asad had been appointed supervisor of transfer of records.
In the IHC’s Courtroom No. 2 – formerly Justice Kayani’s courtroom – a simple handwritten note reading “Chief Justice, Federal Constitutional Court of Pakistan” was pasted at the entrance.
On Monday, the FCC formally initiated the case after notifying 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 consisted of 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 the recitation of the Holy Quran. During approximately half an hour of proceedings, the court heard all five cases, although lawyers did not appear in two of them.
The bench took Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s (KMC) appeal against the Sindh High Court decision regarding the use of public parks in Karachi for commercial sports activities.
The KMC’s lawyer argued that the case related to the powers of the KMC and that the corporation had approved the use of public parks for sports activities through a resolution. The SHC had held that the KMC lacked such authority, prompting the appeal.
The court observed that the case involved public interest and issued a stay order against the SHC judgement. It also issued notices to all parties and adjourned the hearing to November 27.
The petitioner’s counsel stated that contempt petitions had also been filed against them. The bench directed SHC not to proceed with contempt. The bench was also hearing a case related to the availability of life-saving medicines.
During the hearing, Additional Attorney General Aamir Rehman appeared before the court’s summons. The chief justice noted that this was a matter of public interest and that the government must review the availability of medicine.
The bench sought a report from the DRAP regarding the availability of drugs and adjourned the hearing indefinitely.
