FSC rattling present judicial framework: Asma

LAHORE – The Federal Shariat Court (FSC) has greatly disturbed the present judicial framework leaving the high courts and the Supreme Court with meager powers while carving an enormously dominant role for itself, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Asma Jahangir said on Monday. In press release,
Asma clarified media reports in which she was quoted demanding for the “immediate abolition” of the FSC during a peace rally.
“However I have expressed despair at the recent judgment of the FSC in a case titled Mian Abdur Razzaq Aamir versus the federal government. The FSC has assumed a vast jurisdiction, which was previously under the purview of the high courts and the SC,
” the SCBA president said. She said that by disturbing the judicial framework of the superior judiciary, the FSC has itself advanced the argument of dispensing with parallel judicial systems. Asma said that the judgment has indicated that in the future, the court could further take over appellate jurisdiction on civil matters such as inheritance and family laws. “The FSC is a parallel judiciary, which can hardly be described as independent. It may be recalled that FSC judges do not enjoy a permanent tenure. They are appointed to the FSC for tenure of three years and there is no retirement age for a judge of the FSC. Three out of eight of its judges are clerics who may have no formal training in law, which is worrying as most criminal appeals, require knowledge of law,” the renowned human rights activist said.