Three ATC judges reinstated by the Federal Constitutional Court can serve out their fixed terms, after the court struck down a Sindh government notification that had removed them from office. The court announced its ruling on Wednesday, holding that a new upper age limit of 65 years cannot be applied to judges appointed for fixed terms before the law changed. It also set aside a Sindh High Court judgment dated December 22, 2025, which had upheld the removal.
The Federal Service Tribunal (FST) is not part of this case. The ruling was delivered by the Federal Constitutional Court, which is the body that accepted the appeal and declared the removal invalid.
What the court ruled
The dispute began with amendments to the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, the law that governs anti-terrorism courts (ATCs) hearing terrorism cases. The Sindh Anti-Terrorism Amendment Act, 2025 introduced an upper age limit of 65 for judges and presiding officers, and the amendment was published in the official Gazette on September 2, 2025. After it took effect, the Sindh government issued a notification ordering three judges to stop holding office immediately, although their stipulated terms had not ended.
The judges first challenged the notification before the Sindh High Court, which dismissed their petitions and held that the age limit covered serving judges as well as future appointees. Before the Federal Constitutional Court, the petitioners' counsel argued that the amended provisions could not be applied to appointments made before the law came into force. Sindh's law officers maintained that the amendments did apply to judges already in office.
The Federal Constitutional Court sided with the petitioners. It said the amending law contained no express provision, and no necessary implication, that would shorten existing fixed terms. Judges appointed for a set period, the court held, had acquired a vested right to serve that period, and where an amendment allows two reasonable readings, the reading that protects an existing right should be preferred. Justice Muhammad Karim Khan Agha wrote the written verdict.
The lead petitioner's name is spelled Muhammad Yamin in one account and Muhammad Yameen in another. The other petitioners named are Ubaidullah Khan and Syed Zakir Hussain. Yamin was appointed a judge of ATC-IV in Karachi on September 19, 2024, for two-and-a-half years, when he was about 70 years old, and the law at that time set no upper age limit. Under the verdict, he will complete that term, and the court treated him as having remained in office despite the notification.
The court's order means the removal notification has no legal effect. No further step by the Sindh government has been reported so far.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- September 19, 2024: Muhammad Yamin was appointed judge of ATC-IV Karachi for two-and-a-half years.
- September 2, 2025: The amendment setting a 65-year age limit for ATC judges was published in the official Gazette.
- December 22, 2025: The Sindh High Court judgment upholding the government's action was issued, and was later annulled by the Federal Constitutional Court.
- Wednesday (no calendar date given): The Federal Constitutional Court reinstated the three judges and declared the removal notification unlawful.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Federal Constitutional Court ne Sindh ke teen anti-terrorism court judges ko bahal kar diya hai, aur Sindh government ka unhein hatane wala notification ghair qanooni qarar diya gaya hai. Court ke mutabiq jo judges qanoon badalne se pehle fixed term par muqarrar huay thay, unki muddat nayi 65 saal ki age limit se kam nahi hogi. Aam logon ke liye yeh faisla yeh wazeh karta hai ke pehle se mili qanooni haqooq ko bina wazeh qanoon ke chheena nahi ja sakta. Muhammad Yamin Karachi ki ATC-IV mein apni dhai saal ki muddat mukammal karenge.
