Justice Aminuddin Khan has been sworn in as the first chief justice of the newly established Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) today after the 27th Amendment was enacted into law.
The ceremony was being held at the Aiwan-i-Saddar in Islamabad.
It was attended by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, National Assembly speaker Ayaz Sadiq, Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gillani and PPP’s Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari, and Supreme Court Chief Justice Yahya Afridi.
The ceremony began with the recitation of the Holy Quran, and then President Zardari administered the oath to Justice Aminuddin.
His appointment was made by President Asif Ali Zardari a day earlier under Clause 3 of Article 175A, read with Article 175C, of the Constitution, adding that it would come into effect from the date of Justice Aminuddin’s oath-taking.
The proposal to establish the FCC has been revived as part of the judicial reforms incorporated in the 27th Constitutional Amendment. According to government officials, the FCC’s creation aims to reduce the SC’s workload, ensure timely adjudication of constitutional cases and strengthen judicial independence and credibility.
Oath-taking of other FCC judges
Sources told Dawn earlier that after the ceremony, Justice Aminuddin will proceed to the Islamabad High Court (IHC), where arrangements have been made for the oath-taking of six other FCC judges, including Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Musarrat Hilali, Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Ali Baqar Najafi of the Supreme Court, Justice K.K. Agha of the Sindh High Court and Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Rozi Khan Barrech.
The initial strength of the FCC has been determined through a presidential order, while any future increase in the number of judges will require parliamentary approval through an act of Parliament. According to the sources, the oath-taking ceremony for the FCC judges will be held in the IHC auditorium, as judges of the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) have resisted an immediate relocation to the third floor of the IHC building.
Initially, the oath-taking of Justice Aminuddin was scheduled for Thursday at 10am. However, following a minor revision to the 27th Constitutional Amendment Bill, the legislation had to be returned to the Senate for approval. After the Senate cleared the bill on Thursday, the ceremony was first rescheduled for 6pm and later moved to Friday morning.
Interestingly, the ceremony is not being held in the FSC as originally planned. The FCC was intended to be established in the FSC building in Islamabad, while the Shariat Court was to be shifted to the IHC premises.
However, sources within the FSC revealed that its judges expressed dissatisfaction over their abrupt relocation and raised the matter with the Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi.
