ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court of Pakistan (FCCP) on Wednesday reinstated three Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) judges who were removed by the Sindh government following amendments to the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, imposing an upper age limit of 65 years for judges of such courts.
The court set aside the order of a division bench of the Sindh High Court’s Circuit Court at Hyderabad and declared the provincial government’s notification removing the judges to be without lawful authority and of no legal effect.
The case was brought by Muhammad Yameen, Ubaidullah Khan and Syed Zakir Hussain, who challenged the application of amendments introduced through the Anti-Terrorism (Sindh Amendment) Act, 2025, to judges appointed for fixed terms before the amendments came into force.
Under the amended Section 14 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, judges and presiding officers of Anti-Terrorism Courts are required to relinquish office upon attaining the age of 65. The amendment was published in the official Gazette on September 2, 2025.
The Sindh government subsequently issued a notification directing the three judges to cease holding office with immediate effect, although their stipulated terms had not expired.
The judges challenged the notification before the Sindh High Court, seeking permission to continue serving until the completion of their respective tenures. However, the high court dismissed their petitions, ruling that the amended age limit applied to judges already holding office as well as future appointees.
The petitioners then approached the FCCP. The counsel, Salahuddin Ahmed, argued that the amended provisions could not be applied to appointments made before the legislation came into force.
Opposing the petition, Additional Advocate General Sindh Barrister Sandeep Malani and Additional Prosecutor General Sindh Siraj Ali Khan Chandio maintained that the amended provisions also applied to judges already in office.
The FCCP examined whether the newly introduced age limit could curtail the fixed tenures of judges appointed under the previous law.
In its ruling, the court held that the amending legislation contained neither an express provision nor any necessary implication extending the new age limit to existing fixed-term appointments in a manner that would shorten their tenure.
The court observed that judges appointed for a specified period under the law then in force had acquired a vested right to hold office for that period, subject to the applicable conditions governing the continuation or premature termination of their appointments.
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It further held that where an amended provision admits of two reasonably possible interpretations, the interpretation preserving the existing right should be preferred.
Accordingly, the court ruled that the newly prescribed age limit could not be applied to existing fixed-term appointments to curtail their remaining tenure.
Setting aside the Sindh High Court’s order, the FCCP declared the provincial government’s notification unlawful and without legal effect.
The court further ruled that the petitioner, Muhammad Yameen, would be deemed to have remained in office despite the notification and would be entitled to continue as Judge/Presiding Officer of Anti-Terrorism Court-IV, Karachi, until the completion of his stipulated two-and-a-half-year term, subject to the conditions governing his appointment under the law.