SC, FCC operate as coordinate courts, exercising clearly demarcated jurisdictions: CJP Afridi

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi has ruled that the constitutional scheme following the passage of the 27th Amendment treated the Supreme Court (SC) and the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) as coordinate courts exercising clearly demarcated jurisdictions over distinct matters. The ruling was made in a 13-page order authored by the CJP and issued on a set of petitions arising from a Feb 17, 2020 Peshawar High Court consolidated judgement. It was issued by a two-member bench, comprising CJP Afridi and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan. The order stated that the constitutional scheme following the 27th Amendment did not position the SC or the FCC as an appellate forum to each other. The constitutional amendment was passed by Parliament in November last year, leading to the establishment of the FCC as a court that was to hear all matters of a constitutional nature, including those involving disputes between provincial and federal governments, public interest and the enforcement of fundamental rights of the people. The creation of the FCC was viewed by many as the establishment of a parallel judicial body to strip the SC of its constitutional jurisdiction and leave it only as a court of appeals. The 27th Amendment also included revisions to Article 189 (1) of the Constitution, which now states: “Any decision of the Federal Constitutional Court shall, to the extent that it decides a question of law or is based upon or enunciates a principle of law, be binding on all other courts in Pakistan, including the Supreme Court.” The SC order authored by CJP Afridi said the text of Article 189(1) of the Constitution “must deliberately be read in conjunction with the overall post-27th Amendment framework, which intentionally arranges jurisdiction between the Supreme Court and the FCC across distinct domains”. “Any broader construction of Article 189(1) would have the effect of subordinating one apex court to the other in respect of proceedings constitutionally as