Overview
- Led by Chief Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, a two-judge bench issued a seven-page judgment on March 4–5 dismissing Syeda Nasreen Zohra’s review petition as not maintainable.
- The ruling states the Constitution does not permit a horizontal appeal via Article 184(3), which is confined to issues of public importance concerning fundamental rights.
- The court reaffirmed Article 188 as the limited post-final review mechanism for Supreme Court decisions and said the 27th Amendment did not create supervisory or appellate authority over the apex court.
- The underlying matter involved a private land-compensation dispute with the Multan Development Authority that had already gone through two Supreme Court appeals and an Article 184(3) petition.
- Citing precedents including Watan Party, District Bar Association Rawalpindi, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Elahi Cotton Mills, the FCC warned that allowing re-litigation would enable perpetual cases and undermine judicial finality.