ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court of Pakistan (FCC) has dismissed a high-profile review petition, ruling that the Court cannot reopen or review final judgments of the Supreme Court, underscoring the doctrine of judicial finality, clarifying that the FCC’s jurisdiction under Article 175E(3) is confined to matters of public importance involving fundamental rights, not private disputes already adjudicated through the Supreme Court’s appellate and review processes.
The petitioners had sought review under Article 188 and the Supreme Court Rules, challenging the dismissal of their earlier constitutional petition under Article 184(3), arguing that a two-member bench contradicted earlier three-member bench rulings in their favor.
The Supreme Court’s office had objected that the petition under Article 184(3) was not maintainable because, there was no question of public importance was raised, was an individual grievance, not a fundamental rights issue, and that the remedies had already been exhausted.
In its written verdict, the The FCC noted that Article 184(3) (before the 27th Amendment) and now Article 175E(3) only applied to matters of public importance concerning fundamental rights, and that these provisions were not appellate or revisional in nature; they could not be used to re-litigate private disputes.
Explaining the ‘doctrine of finality, the Court emphasized that Article 188 provides the only review mechanism for Supreme Court judgments — and that review is conducted by the Supreme Court itself, adding that allowing the FCC to reopen such cases would undermine judicial certainty and render Article 188 meaningless.
The FCC concluded that the petition was an attempt to reopen a concluded controversy under the guise of constitutional enforcement. It therefore ruled the review petition not maintainable and dismissed it.
