Islamabad, November 28, 2025 – The Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) on Thursday filed an urgent application before the newly created Federal Constitution Court (FCC), demanding that all pending intra-court appeals (ICAs) challenging the Supreme Court’s May 7, 2025 verdict on civilian military trials be immediately returned to the Supreme Court.
The LHCBA, along with former Chief Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja and senior counsel Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, had filed these ICAs in June seeking reversal of the 5-2 majority judgment that restored provisions of the Pakistan Army Act permitting military courts to try civilians for offences linked to the May 9, 2023, violence.
The application contends that both the 27th Constitutional Amendment—which established the FCC and stripped the Supreme Court of certain constitutional jurisdiction—and the subsequent transfer of these appeals to the FCC are “without lawful authority, unconstitutional, and non-est.
LHCBA petition wants ICAs “restored to their original forum”https://t.co/wScd09nYb9
— Dawn.com (@dawn_com) November 28, 2025
”Citing the Supreme Court’s landmark 17-judge ruling in the Rawalpindi District Bar Association case, the plea argues that Parliament cannot, through ordinary amendments, destroy salient features of the Constitution, including judicial independence and separation of powers. It accuses the 26th and 27th Amendments of impermissibly restructuring the judicial architecture and shielding themselves from judicial review.
The LHCBA warns that if such amendments are upheld, Parliament could “abolish or replace the forum for constitutional adjudication at will,” rendering the judiciary powerless against unconstitutional legislation.
Invoking the principle established in the Sabir Shah case, the application asserts that the FCC cannot rule on the validity of the very amendment that created it, and therefore lacks jurisdiction to hear these appeals. It further maintains that the appeals, filed under the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023, fall outside the scope of Articles 175E and 175F introduced by the 27th Amendment.
The petition seeks restoration of the appeals to their “original forum”—the Supreme Court—for adjudication on both jurisdictional and substantive grounds. A date for the hearing is awaited.
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