ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari appointed top court judge Justice Amin-Ud-Din Khan as the first chief justice of the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Thursday, a notification from the law ministry said. 

The FCC was formed after the government made sweeping changes to the military and judicial command structure via the 27th constitutional amendment. The new amendment shifts constitutional cases from the Supreme Court to the FCC while it grants expanded powers to Pakistan’s army chief. 

 “The President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is pleased to appoint Mr. Justice Amin-Ud-Din Khan as Chief Justice of the Federal Constitutional Court of Pakistan with effect from the date he makes oath of his office,” a notification from the law ministry read. 

According to the Supreme Court’s website, Justice Khan was born on Dec. 1, 1960 in the eastern city of Multan where he received his education from Kindergarten Muslim School. He completed his secondary education from the Government Muslim High School in 1977. 

He secured his bachelor’s degree in Philosophy in 1981 and completed his L.L.B degree from the University Law College in Multan in 1984 and also secured a diploma in Taxation Law.

Justice Khan obtained the license to practice in Pakistan’s lower courts in 1985 before enrolling as an advocate of the Lahore High Court in 1987. He was later enrolled as an advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 2001.

He was involved there in mostly civil cases relating to property, preemption and matters of inheritance. 

Justice Khan was elevated to the bench in 2011 and during his stint as judge, he decided thousands of civil cases the Bahawalpur Bench and Multan Bench of the Lahore High Court. 

He was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court in 2019. 

His appointment to the post takes place hours after two Supreme Court judges, Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, resigned in protest. 

The judges took exception to the 27th constitutional amendment, with Justice Shah describing it as a “grave assault” on the constitution. 

The FCC was set up after years of clashes between the executive and the judiciary. Verdicts issued by the top courts over the years ousted prime ministers from office and put the judiciary on a confrontational path with the governments at the time.