Federal Constitutional Court moved against law that created it
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ISLAMABAD: A plea asking the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) to strike down the very law that brought it into being, i.e. the 27th Constitutional Amendment, was filed before the newly established court on Thursday.
“It is most respectively prayed that this petition may kindly be accepted and the 27th Amendment passed with ‘malicious design’ may kindly be struck down in the larger interest of justice,” read the petition, which was moved by Advocate Muhammad Shoaib in person.
Earlier on Nov 11, former chief justice Jawwad S. Khawaja challenged the 27th Amendment before the Supreme Court, seeking a direction that the court retains exclusive jurisdiction to determine the vires and constitutionality of the proposed amendment.
At the time, the FCC did not exist as the amendment in question had not yet been approved by parliament.
Similar pleas have been filed before high courts and the Federal Shariat Court, but this is the first time the FCC has been approached to strike down the law that created it in the first place.
‘One-man rule’
Filed under Article 175E of the Constitution, the fresh petition argued that the 27th Amendment was allegedly passed by a “puppet regime” with a “malicious design to establish one-man rule” in Pakistan by undermining the Constitution.
“When the country was passing through a constitutional crisis with the law and order situation deteriorating day by day, the government tabled the 27th Amendment in parliament with the objective of undermining the independence of the judiciary in a mala fide manner,” the petitioner claimed.
The petition said that the establishment of the FCC, by allegedly curtailing the powers of the SC under the garb of the 27th Amendment, was against the fundamental principles enshrined in the original provisions of the 1973 Constitution.
It further claimed that the federal government was being exploited by certain individuals for the purpose of their vested interests, whereas parliament had been used as rubber-stamp just to implement the whims of powerful.
It contended that the country was going through a “power-sharing crisis”, where one institution was overwhelming the powers of the others.
It added that the country was being governed through an indirect martial law, which had camouflaged the entire system and thus “disgracing the green book”.
‘Constitutional crisis’
The petition pleaded that the amendment would create institutional incoherence amounting to a constitutional crisis, as all powers would be concentrated in the hands of a single individual.
“This flagrant violation of the constitution by the government amounted to mockery of the parliament and the judicial system of the country,” the petition argued.
It added that granting immunity to the highest officials of the country from all criminal liability was a clear violation of Article 227 of the Constitution, which ordains that no law will be enacted in contravention of the injunctions of the Holy Quran and Sunnah.
Likewise, the introduction of Articles 175E and 185 of the Constitution would create a clash, as a parallel appellate system has been introduced, with one set of appeals to be filed before the SC and another before the FCCP, the plea read.
The petition argued that this amounted to a violation of natural justice, adding that the judiciary was the custodian of the rights of the people. “Therefore, the FCCP should play its role by striking down the 27th Amendment in the interest of justice,” it added.
Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2025
