The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has ruled that the country's high courts are autonomous constitutional courts and are neither subordinate to the constitutional nor Supreme Court.
The ruling was authored by Justice Aamer Farooq in a case in which a request had been made for directions to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to dispose of a matter expeditiously.
The judgement stated that applications are frequently filed before superior courts seeking directions for the high courts to decide cases swiftly. It noted that Pakistan currently has five autonomous high courts, each functioning as an independent constitutional court.
The court held that a high court is neither subordinate to the Supreme Court nor to the Federal Constitutional Court. It observed that district courts and other courts established under Article 203 fall within the jurisdiction of the relevant high court.
The judgement stated that decisions of the high courts may be challenged before the Supreme Court or the FCC. However, the right to challenge a judgement does not render a high court subordinate to either forum.
The court stated that directions issued to the high courts should be framed with great caution and in appropriate language.
It noted that high courts maintain their own policies regarding case listings, independent rosters and case management systems. Any order or direction overriding such policies or case-fixation mechanisms would amount to interference in their judicial and administrative independence.
The judgement added that, in certain circumstances, the urgent nature of a case may require an expedited hearing after a matter is remitted to the relevant high court. In such cases, appropriate language should be employed so that the independence of the high court remains unaffected.
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