- Appointment follows enactment of 27th Amendment signed into law by President Zardari
- Oath-taking ceremony scheduled at Presidency tomorrow morning
- New court to focus exclusively on constitutional cases and judicial reforms
ISLAMABAD: In a swift follow-up to the enactment of the 27th Constitutional Amendment, President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday appointed Justice Aminuddin Khan as the inaugural Chief Justice of the newly established Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), “translating the reforms envision under the recently enacted law in Pakistan’s judicial landscape.”
The appointment came just hours after the president signed the 27th Amendment into law — legislation that envisions the creation of the FCC to adjudicate constitutional matters — and amid turmoil in the higher judiciary following the resignations of Supreme Court Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah in protest against the new law.
A notification issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice stated that President Zardari made the appointment under clause (3) of Article 175A read with Article 175C of the Constitution. It added that Justice Khan’s appointment would take effect from the date he takes his oath of office, which is scheduled for Friday at 10am at the Presidency.
According to the notification, chief justices and judges of superior courts as well as high-ranking government officials have been invited to attend the oath-taking ceremony.
Born in Multan in 1960, Justice Aminuddin Khan represents the second generation of a prominent legal family. After earning his LLB from the University Law College, Multan, in 1984, he began practising under his father, Khan Sadiq Muhammad Ahsan. He became an advocate of the Lahore High Court in 1987 and of the Supreme Court in 2001.
Justice Khan joined Zafar Law Chambers in 2001, working with the firm until his elevation as a judge of the Lahore High Court in 2011, where he primarily decided civil matters on the Multan and Bahawalpur benches. He was sworn in as a Supreme Court judge in 2019, taking the oath from then–chief justice Asif Saeed Khosa.
In November 2024, Justice Khan was appointed head of the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench and was the fourth most senior judge of the apex court at the time of his appointment to the FCC.
Throughout his career, Justice Khan has decided thousands of civil cases, with most of his judgments upheld by the Supreme Court. He worked closely with eminent legal figures, including Mian Nisar Ahmed and Umar Ata Bandial, and earned a reputation for judicial restraint and technical precision.
Federal Constitutional Court composition
According to official sources, the FCC will initially comprise six other judges—four from the Supreme Court and two from the high courts—in addition to the chief justice.
Names reportedly under consideration for the inaugural composition include Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Mussarat Hilali, Justice Aamer Farooq, and Justice Baqar Najafi from the Supreme Court, while Justice KK Agha of the Sindh High Court and Justice Rozi Khan Barrech, Chief Justice of the Balochistan High Court, are being considered from the high courts.
Sources further indicated that the initial strength of the FCC would be determined through a presidential order, while any future increase in the number of judges would require approval by an Act of Parliament.
Officials at the Law Ministry confirmed that under the 27th Amendment, the President—acting on the advice of the Prime Minister—is empowered to make appointments to the FCC. They added that the court’s formation represents the operationalization of long-delayed judicial reforms intended to redefine constitutional adjudication in Pakistan.
Background and purpose
The proposal to establish the Federal Constitutional Court was revived as part of the judicial reforms package incorporated in the 27th Constitutional Amendment Act. The government has defended the measure as a move to rationalise the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction, enhance institutional efficiency, and reduce the case backlog by diverting constitutional litigation to a specialised bench.
Officials said the FCC aims to strengthen the independence and credibility of the judicial system while allowing the Supreme Court to focus primarily on its appellate functions.
The idea of a separate constitutional court is not new — it was first mooted in the 2006 Charter of Democracy (CoD) signed between the PPP and PML-N, which envisioned a dedicated forum to handle constitutional questions. The concept resurfaced during deliberations on the 26th Amendment, but was shelved following resistance from the JUI-F and other political groups.
Under the current law, judges of the FCC will retire at the age of 68, three years later than the Supreme Court’s retirement age of 65.
Location and administrative arrangements
The FCC will not be housed within the Supreme Court premises. Officials have indicated that it will likely be set up in the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) building in Islamabad. The FSC, in turn, is expected to be relocated to the third floor of the Islamabad High Court building.
However, sources within the FSC disclosed that its judges have expressed serious reservations over the abrupt relocation plan and have conveyed their concerns to Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi.
Justice Aminuddin Khan’s elevation as the country’s first Chief Justice of the Federal Constitutional Court comes at a turbulent moment for Pakistan’s judiciary, with two senior Supreme Court judges resigning in protest and legal challenges already filed against the 27th Amendment.
While the government hails the establishment of the FCC as a historic milestone in the pursuit of judicial reform, critics argue that it curtails the Supreme Court’s authority and tilts the balance of power toward the executive, threatening judicial independence. Thanks PT
