FCC reinstates Karachi ATC judge

FCC reinstates Karachi ATC judge

The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has reinstated a judge of Anti-Terrorism Court-IV, Karachi, ruling that a newly introduced age limit cannot retrospectively end an existing fixed-term appointment.

In a 15-page judgement authored by Justice K K Agha, a division bench headed by Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi overturned the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) decision and declared the judge’s de-notification by the Sindh government unlawful and without legal effect.

The court held that the Anti-Terrorism (Sindh Amendment) Act, 2025, did not expressly or implicitly extend the new age restriction to appointments made for a fixed tenure before the amendment took effect.

The petitioner, a retired district and sessions judge, secured appointment as presiding officer of ATC-IV, Karachi, on September 19, 2024, under Section 14(2) of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997. The government appointed him for two and a half years under Section 14(3), with his tenure scheduled to end in March 2027.

He was approximately 70 years old when appointed, but the law at the time did not prescribe an upper age limit for ATC judges.

The situation changed after the 2025 amendment introduced a maximum age of 65 for such appointments. On October 22, 2025, the Sindh government de-notified four ATC judges who had crossed the newly prescribed age limit.

The FCC clarified that the key issue was not whether the legislature had the authority to set an upper age limit, but whether the amended law could apply to appointments already made for a fixed term.

The court ruled in favour of the petitioner, holding that the new age restriction could not curtail his existing tenure in the absence of a clear legislative provision authorising retrospective application.