ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned whether the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) can take up the Imran Khan hospital case after the apex court summoned its record.
A three-member bench headed by Justice Shahid Waheed, with Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, sought assistance from Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan on the scope of the FCC’s constitutional jurisdiction.
Awan told the bench that the Constitution empowers the FCC to call both records and cases involving constitutional questions. Justice Waheed, however, drew attention to wording in the FCC order stating that the records would be summoned and the cases “fixed for hearing.”
Justice Waheed said that wording required examination and asked how the FCC could proceed to hear cases already pending before the Supreme Court. The bench did not make a final determination on the jurisdictional issue.
Read: Imran Khan Hospital Case: Supreme Court Summons Attorney General
The attorney general requested three weeks to prepare legal assistance on the respective jurisdictions of the two courts. The Supreme Court accepted the request and adjourned the proceedings for three weeks.
On September 15, the FCC summoned the Supreme Court’s complete record concerning Khan’s transfer to Shifa International Hospital while hearing appeals by three Adiala Jail inmates seeking comparable private-hospital treatment.
The underlying Supreme Court proceedings arise from its August 18 interim order directing authorities to move the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder to Shifa International Hospital for examination and treatment by a multidisciplinary medical board.
