FCC expresses 'serious concern' over course adopted by SC bench over already-decided matter

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Wednesday regretted the course adopted by a bench of the Supreme Court on an already determined matter by describing the approach as “something that raises serious concerns regarding judicial discipline, legal norms and institutional propriety”. “The course adopted in the subsequent order, authored by Justice Munib Akhtar, raises serious concerns regarding judicial discipline, legal norms and institutional propriety, particularly when the earlier determination remained operative and was already the subject of review proceedings,” observed FCC Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan in his order .

A two-judge FCC bench, comprising Justice Aminuddin and Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, had taken up dozens of review petitions against a Dec 28, 2021 SC judgment , whereby leave to appeal was refused in a batch of petitions arising out of Sindh High Court’s 2020 order concerning the constitutional validity of the Income Support Levy Act 2013. The two-judge SC bench had upheld that the Income Support Levy Act, having been enacted through the Finance Act 2013 without observance of the legislative procedure prescribed by the Constitution, did not acquire the status of a valid law. The bench comprised Justice Aminuddin — who now heads the FCC formed under the 26th Amendment — and Justice Qazi Faez Isa, who went on to become the SC chief justice in 2023. Justice Isa penned the judgment. Despite the 2021 decision and the pendency of the present review petitions, a subsequent three-judge SC bench, including Justice Akhtar, through its June 21, 2022 order, granted leave on substantially identical constitutional questions and expressly contemplated reconsideration of the earlier determination. In his judgment, the FCC chief justice also criticised…