List of cases of the Supreme Court of Pakistan

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This is an index of lists of cases decided by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Contents

By Former Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry

These lists are sorted chronologically by Chief Justice and include all notable cases decided by the court. Articles exist for almost all cases.

A Few Major Cases

Molvi Tamizuddin Khan Case

In Molvi Tamizuddin Khan case, the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Mohammad Munir backed Governor General Ghulam Mohammad's action to dissolve the first Constitutional Assembly. This judgement of Supreme Court is always strongly criticized by all democratic parties of Pakistan and is referred as a root cause of unstable democracy in Pakistan. This case is reported in PLD 1955 Federal Court 240.

The Usif Patel Case

The Federal Court (Supreme Court) announced in the main Constitutional Case 'Usif Patel and 2 others versus The Crown', PLD 1955 Federal Court 387 (Appellate Jurisdiction), that the governor general had no capacity to make provisions to the Constitution of Pakistan. After this decision of the Federal Court the nation confronted Constitutional emergency which was more prominent than when the governor general had dissolved the Constituent Assembly.But the decision was expressly limited to Governor General's powers under section 42 of the Government of India act, 1935.

Dosso vs Federation of Pakistan

In Dosso's case (1958), the Pakistan Supreme Court used jurist Hans Kelsen's theory that a revolution can be justified when the basic norm underlying a Constitution disappears and a new system is put in its place. When revolution came then the old system will be replaced with new system

Asma Jilani vs Government of Punjab

In the famous case of Asma Jilani, a detailed history of the Martial law in the British days has been mentioned and its comparison has been made with the past days. Two appeals were filed in the case, one by Miss Asma Jilani in the Punjab High Court for the release of her father Malik Ghulam Jilani, [1] and the other by Mrs Zarina Gohar in the Sindh High Court for the release of her husband Altaf Gohar under Article 98 of the Constitution of Pakistan 1962. The detention of Malik Ghulam Jilani and Altaf Gohar had been made under the Martial Law Regulation No.78 of 1971 which was challenged in Lahore and Sindh High Courts respectively. Both the High Courts held that they had no jurisdiction over it because clause 2 of the Jurisdiction of Courts(Removal of Doubts) Order No.3 of 1969 barred the courts from questioning the validity of any act done under the Martial Law Regulation No.78 of 1971. Asma Jilani appealed to Supreme Court of Pakistan where she stated that this country was not a foreign country which had been invaded by any army with General Yahya khan as its head, nor was it an alien territory which had been occupied by the said army. Martial Law could not have arisen in the circumstances. Pakistan had its own legal doctrine, Holy Qur'an and the Objectives Resolution. Therefore, martial law was never superior to the Constitution. Supreme Court further held that Yahya khan was neither a victor nor Pakistan was an occupied territory and thus declared him a 'usurper' and all his actions were also declared illegal. When Asma Jilani case's judgment was released, Yahya Khan was not in power and it was then Bhutto's Martial Law and he was the civilian Chief Martial Law Administrator and the President. Asma Jilani's case paved the way for the restoration of democracy in the country. This case was followed by the interim Constitution of 1972 and then by the permanent Constitution of 1973. Due to the judicial pronouncement in the case of Asma Jilani, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was compelled to remove the Martial law.

Begum Nusrat Bhutto v. Chief of the Army Staff

On November 10, 1977 the Supreme Court unanimously validated the imposition of martial law, under the doctrine of necessity. The law of necessity recognized and upheld by Pakistan's highest judicial body has proved an honorable protection for military adventure in civil government.it was the illegal action called law of necessity..

Haji Saifullah vs Federation of Pakistan

In Federation of Pakistan v Saifullah Khan case, the Supreme Court, held that the dismissal of Mohammad Khan Junejo's government by General Zia in May 1988 was unconstitutional but it refused to restore the National Assembly. This is period where there is Pakistan with no pm of 6 month until Benazir comes

Ahmed Tariq Rahim v. Federation of Pakistan

On 6 August 1990, President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, under Article 58(2)(b) of the constitution, had dissolved the National Assembly and the government of Benazir Bhutto. The said dissolution order was challenged. The Supreme Court, by majority, upheld the dissolution of the National Assembly. Reference P L D 1992 SC 646

Merham Ali vs Federation of Pakistan

During Nawaz Sharif's government, the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional several anti-terrorist laws, including the 1997 Anti-Terrorism Act (which established Anti-Terrorism Courts) subsequently amended in October 1998 ( Merham Ali vs Federation of Pakistan ); [2] and the 1998 Pakistan Armed Forces (Acting in Aid of Civil Power) Ordinance, declared "unconstitutional, without legal authority, and with no legal effect" on 22 February 1999 ( Liaquat Hussain versus Federation of Pakistan ). [2]

Declaring Provisional Constitutional Order (2007) Illegal

On 3 November 2007, Chief of the Army Staff declared emergency in Pakistan. [3] The emergency suspended the constitution. A seven panel bench issued a unanimous two-page order declaring the action illegal. [4] The bench consisted of:

Upholding Provisional Constitutional Order (2007)

On 24 November 2007, a seven panel bench of newly constituted supreme court, after imposition of PCO, validated the imposition of emergency and the promulgation of the Provisional Constitution Order issued by the Chief of the Army Staff. [5] The bench consisted of:

2009 PCO Judges case

On July 31, 2009, The Supreme Court of Pakistan declared the steps taken on November 3, 2007 by former president Pervez Musharraf as illegal and unconstitutional under the Article 279 of the Constitution. [6]

Lifetime disqualification case

The Supreme Court unanimously held that electoral disqualification under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution of Pakistan was for life in Sami Ullah Baloch v. Abdul Karim Nousherwani . The ruling barred former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif from holding public office indefinitely, following his disqualification in the Panama Papers case in 2017. [7]


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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iftikhar Chaudhry</span> Pakistani judge (born 1948)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athar Minallah</span> Pakistani judge (born 1961)

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The Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) is an emergency and extra-constitutional order that suspends either wholly or partially the Constitution of Pakistan — the supreme law of the land.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">PCO Judges case</span>

The Provisional Constitutional Order Judges case refers to cases heard and decided by the Pakistan Supreme Court pertaining to the High Court and Supreme Court judges who took their oath of offices under the Provisional Constitutional Order in 2007. On 3 November 2007, then-President Pervez Musharraf declared a Provisional Constitutional Order, which declared a state of emergency and suspends the Constitution of Pakistan. Under this emergency law, all High court judges, including the Supreme Court justices, were asked to take oath under this Provisional Constitutional Order. Those who did not were placed under effective house arrest. A seven-member bench issued a restraining order on the same day, barring the government from implementing emergency rule and urging other government officials to not help do so.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Supreme Court of Pakistan</span>

The History of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, organised by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, follows from its constitutional establishment in 1947 till its recent events. The Supreme Court of Pakistan is the highest appellate court of the country and court of last resort— the final arbiter of the law and the Constitution.

The Federation of Pakistan v. General (R) Pervez Musharraf, informally known as the Musharraf high treason case, was a court case, in which General Pervez Musharraf who acted in the capacity as chief of army staff, tried for high treason stemming from his imposing of unconstitutional state of emergency on 3 November 2007. In this act, Gen. Musharraf, who was also elected as President of Pakistan, subverted and suspended the writ of the Constitution of Pakistan, dismissing the fifteen justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the fifty-six judges of the provincial High Courts while issuing arrest orders to Chief Justice of Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military Courts case</span> Pakistani Legal Case

Jawwad S. Khawaja v. Federation of Pakistan, PLD 2024 SC 337, is a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in which it was held that the Constitution of Pakistan does not allow for the court-martial of civilians.

References

  1. ↑ Malik, Fazluddeen Kakazai. "Kakazai Social Reformer - April 1904". Rekhta (in Urdu). Retrieved 2025-02-02.
  2. 1 2 Charles H. Kennedy, The Creation and Development of Pakistan’s Anti-terrorism Regime, 1997–2002 in Religious Radicalism and Security in South Asia (Satu P. Limaye, Robert G. Wirsing, Mohan Malik, eds.), p.387-413 (a publication of the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies, Honolulu, Hawaï, Spring 2004).
  3. ↑ Musharraf Declares State of Emergency in Pakistan ABC News
  4. ↑ "Seven judges reject PCO before being sent home -DAWN - Top Stories; November 04, 2007". Archived from the original on 2009-01-04. Retrieved 2009-04-03.
  5. ↑ "Supreme Court of Pakistan Upholds Larger Public Interest and the Safety, Security and Integrity of Pakistan : Pakistan Islamic Republic". Archived from the original on 2008-03-31. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
  6. ↑ "Court: Musharraf's 2007 rule unconstitutional". China daily. 2009-07-31. Retrieved 2009-07-31.
  7. ↑ Bhatti, Haseeb. "Nawaz Sharif steps down as PM after SC's disqualification verdict". Dawn. Dawn Group. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
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