ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Tuesday ruled that amendments to a pending review petition before a court can be introduced even at an advanced stage of the hearing provided such amendments cause no prejudice to the opposite side and facilitates complete and effective determination of the controversy at hand.

“Where the proposed amendment is merely clarificatory in nature, is necessary for proper elucidation of the existing pleadings and does not introduce a new case or alter the core controversy, the same may be allowed even at an advanced stage of the proceedings in order to secure complete and effective adjudication,” observed FCC Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan while heading a two-judge bench, consisting of Justice Ali Baqar Najafi.

The observations came while deciding a set of applications, which the deputy commissioner Nowshera had moved to seek amendments to the original pleadings in the review petitions against the Dec 14, 2023 Supreme Court judgement. The controversy involved a land acquisition dispute involving a compensation of about Rs75 billion.

The controversy stemmed when certain lands situated in different mauzas of Nowshera in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were acquired by the federal government for AFV Range – believed to be used for specialised military training.

Later, the land owners sought enhancement of compensation which was ultimately fixed at Rs12,000 per marla and upheld by the Supreme Court. Since the enhanced compensation remained unpaid due to shortage of funds, the government decided to issue de-notification on Oct 7, 2019 to withdraw acquisition in respect of certain lands.

This de-notification was challenged before the Peshawar High Court (PHC) and was later set aside through a June 10, 2021 judgement.

The petitioner’s challenge before the Supreme Court was also dismissed through a consolidated judgement on Dec 14, 2023.

The present review petition was filed by the petitioner on the ground that certain material facts and legal aspects escaped consideration while rendering the judgement by the Supreme Court.

Initially, the review petition was filed before the Supreme Court but later transferred to FCC after the 27th Amendment.

Through the present application, the petitioner sought amendment to the review petition on the grounds that owing to an inadvertent omission, certain questions of law could not be specifically pleaded, and that their incorporation was necessary for proper and effective adjudication of the review petition.

Moreover, the Supreme Court judgement also failed to consider federal government’s financial incapacity to satisfy compensation amounting to approximately Rs75 billion, adding withdrawal from acquisition was a bona fide decision taken in public interest.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2026