ISLAMABAD: A larger bench of the newly established Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) is set to hear on Tuesday a review petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Salman Akram Raja, seeking the reversal of a Supreme Court order on the formation of election tribunals for last year’s general elections.
According to the FCC’s supplementary cause list, Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan has constituted a five-member bench comprising Justices Aamer Farooq, Ali Baqar Najafi, Muhammad Karim Khan Agha, Rozi Khan Barrech, and Arshad Hussain Shah to hear the petition. The petition, originally filed in the Supreme Court on July 22, 2024, has now been fixed for hearing before the FCC, which was established under the 27th Constitutional Amendment.
Raja’s petition challenges the Supreme Court’s July 4, 2024, order, which had suspended the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) notification for constituting eight election tribunals in Punjab. He contends that the order exposed the adjudication of election disputes in Punjab to the “whims and arbitrary discretion” of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
In his petition, Raja requested the Supreme Court to revisit its earlier order suspending the Lahore High Court’s notification constituting eight election tribunals in Punjab.https://t.co/74OrRdbEzs
— Dawn.com (@dawn_com) November 23, 2025
On July 4, a five-judge SC bench headed by then-Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa had directed a “meaningful consultation” between LHC Chief Justice Aalia Neelum and Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja for the formation of the tribunals. Salman Akram Raja’s petition argues that the Supreme Court failed to provide any guidance on the meaning and scope of “consultation” as outlined in Section 140(3) of the Elections Act, 2017.
The petition further cites the 1996 Al-Jehad Trust case, in which the Supreme Court had elaborately defined the term “consultation,” and notes that the interpretation has consistently been followed in matters of judicial appointments. Raja argues that the LHC Chief Justice’s recommendations regarding the suitability of judges for appointment to election tribunals should carry the highest regard and cannot be disregarded arbitrarily by the ECP.
According to the petition, the LHC had rightly held that names provided by the Chief Justice of the high court in a letter dated April 4, 2024, may not be departed from by the ECP without lawful reason. It contends that the ECP’s position that it could reject names provided by the LHC Chief Justice was “without any lawful basis.”
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The review petition further highlights that during the Supreme Court proceedings, two judges on the bench had rejected the ECP’s claim that it could receive panels of names for each tribunal and then exercise discretion to appoint judges. Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail reportedly asked the ECP counsel to identify any legal or constitutional basis for such a claim, which the counsel failed to provide.
Raja’s petition argues that there is no provision in law allowing the ECP to demand a panel of judges for each tribunal and then disregard any or all of the recommended names provided by the LHC Chief Justice.
The FCC hearing on Tuesday will be closely watched, as it could have significant implications for the independence of the judiciary in the adjudication of election disputes, and for the balance of authority between the courts and the Election Commission.
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