Abid Shahid Zuberi & Ors Versus Federation of Pakistan, through Secretary &

Civil Misc. Appeal No. 89 of 2024 And Constitution Petition No. Nil of 2024, decided on 17th October, 2024.

Result: Petition Dismissed.

Summary

This matter concerns a Civil Miscellaneous Appeal and a Constitution Petition filed under Article 184(3) of the Constitution of Pakistan 1973, challenging a proposed legislative document that had not yet been introduced in Parliament. The Registrar's office raised several objections, including that the petition sought to challenge a non-existent law, failed to array the appropriate legislative members as parties, violated Article 248 of the Constitution regarding the immunity of certain respondents, and posed hypothetical questions. Furthermore, objections were raised regarding the petitioners' standing as advocates and members of the Pakistan Bar Council, suggesting they lacked authorization from their respective bodies. Upon the engagement of senior counsel, the petitioners sought to withdraw both the appeal and the unnumbered Constitution Petition. The Supreme Court, acknowledging the request made by the petitioners and their counsel, dismissed the appeal and the petition as withdrawn. The judgment essentially records the procedural termination of the proceedings at the request of the petitioners, without delving into the merits of the constitutional challenges raised.

Questions settled in this judgment

Can a petition under Article 184(3) of the Constitution be maintained against a proposed law that has not yet been introduced in Parliament?
Does Article 248 of the Constitution of Pakistan 1973 provide immunity to certain respondents from being arrayed as parties in a constitutional petition?
Are lawyers permitted to initiate litigation as members of the Pakistan Bar Council without authorization from their respective representative bodies?

Laws & provisions referred

withdrawal of petitionArticle 184(3)proposed legislationhypothetical questionslocus standijudicial review

ORDER

Qazi Faez Isa, CJ. Learned senior counsel Mr. Hamid Khan states that he has been engaged today on behalf of the appellants/petitioners and has been instructed to withdraw Civil Miscellaneous Appeal No. 89 of 2024 and the unnumbered Constitution Petition, filed on 16 September 2024 in respect of which the following objections were noted by the Registrar's office:

`a. The petition has been filed under Article 184(3) of the Constitution to challenge a document which has not yet attained the status of a law and it is stated to be a `proposed law', not yet introduced in the parliament.
b.That it is the members of the National Assembly and the Senate who may pass a bill, if and when presented. However, they are not arrayed as parties. The Federation, the Provinces, the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister and the President who are listed as respondents are not members of Parliament.
c.That respondent No 9 & 10 cannot be arrayed as parties in view of Article 248 of the Constitution.
d.That under the Constitution the power to make laws vests in the Legislature and the same cannot be curtailed before a law is made.
e.That hypothetical questions are posed in the petition.
f.That the petitioners have mentioned that they are advocates and members of the Pakistan Bar Council whereas the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act stipulates that lawyers should not become parties
g.That if the petitioners have a grievance and want to be portrayed as members of the Pakistan Bar Council they should first approach their respective bodies, i.e., the Supreme Court Bar Association and the Pakistan Bar Council for authorizing them to represent these bodies.
h.The interim order in the case of Raja Amer Khan v The Federation of Pakistan passed in CP 6 of 2023 (at page 52 of the petition) cannot be considered by this office as a binding decision under Article 189 of the Constitution.'

2.Mr. Abid Shahid Zuberi, the appellant No. 1 and the petitioner No. 1, who was earlier representing himself and was also the counsel of the other appellants petitioners confirms the statement made by the learned senior counsel.

3.Therefore, the said Appeal and the unnumbered Constitution Petition are dismissed as withdrawn.

Judges on this bench

Shahid Bilal Hassan462 judgments
Naeem Akhtar Afghan380 judgments
Qazi Faez Isa (C.J)94 judgments