Pakistan’s Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has dismissed intra-court appeals filed by five judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC). The appeals challenged a Supreme Court verdict from June regarding the transfer of judges.
A six-member larger bench of the FCC heard the case. The bench was headed by Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan.
The court also rejected the judges’ request to send the case back to the Supreme Court. This decision was made after none of the petitioner judges appeared before the court for the hearing.
The case originated from the transfer of three judges to the IHC. The judges were moved from high courts in Lahore, Sindh, and Balochistan.
Several parties, including the five IHC judges and bar associations, initially challenged these transfers in the Supreme Court. In June, the Supreme Court dismissed these pleas, ruling the transfers were constitutional.
Read: Five IHC Judges Challenge Case Transfer to Federal Constitutional Court
The IHC judges then filed intra-court appeals against this decision. These appeals were recently transferred to the newly formed FCC under the 27th Constitutional Amendment.
The five IHC judges had argued that the FCC was not the correct forum for their case. They contended that their appeal was filed under the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023.
They claimed the 27th Amendment did not apply to statutory appeals like theirs. Therefore, they prayed that the FCC return their case to the Supreme Court for a final determination.
The FCC’s rejection solidifies the Supreme Court’s original June verdict. It also affirms the procedural framework established by the 27th Constitutional Amendment.
