FCC adjourns hearing of appeal in Practice & Procedure Amendment case

The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Tuesday issued a notice to the government in the Practice & Procedure Amendment Ordinance case and adjourned the hearing for an indefinite period, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

A five-member larger bench, headed by Justice Aamer Farooq, heard the appeal filed by PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan in the case.

Sameer Khosa, counsel for Barrister Gohar, said that a seven-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC) had given the previous decision.

He further said that since the FCC had adopted the rules of the Supreme Court (SC), a five-member bench could not hear an appeal in the case.

Justice Aamer Farooq remarked that a bench, larger than a seven-member bench, would be required to change the verdict.

Speaking on the occasion, Additional Attorney General Amir Rehman said in light of Article 189, a decision given by the constitutional court would be binding on the apex court. “Since FCC is a separate court, it does not matter how many judges are on the bench,” he said, and added it was up to the constitutional court to decide how many judges would hear the appeal.

Khosa said that since the appeal had been filed under the Practice and Procedure Act, a bench larger than the bench that had given the verdict in Practice and Procedure case was supposed to hear the appeal.

Later, the court while issuing a notice to the government, adjourned the case’s hearing for an indefinite time period.

Reporter: Amanat Gishkori