The Constitutional Court has jurisdiction only to interpret the Constitution, while the Supreme Court will hear all other matters, says written order of the Supreme Court bench.
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 16th Sep, 2026) The Supreme Court has ruled in a written order on contempt of court petitions against the government’s failure to transfer former prime minister Imran Khan to a private hospital for treatment despite a court order, and the government’s review petitions, that the Constitutional Court has jurisdiction only to interpret the Constitution while the Supreme Court will hear all other matters.
The three-member bench, headed by Justice Shahid Waheed, also includes Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan.
Justice Shahid Waheed said that the court did not want a clash between the two institutions and wanted both institutions to work within their respective jurisdictions.
The Supreme Court’s three-member bench, headed by Justice Shahid Waheed, heard the petitions on Wednesday morning and asked whether the fact that fundamental rights issues arise in all criminal cases would mean that all such cases should also be sent to another court, namely the Constitutional Court.
At this stage, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Secretary-General Salman Akram Raja told the court that no constitutional interpretation was required in Imran Khan’s criminal appeal.
He said that the contempt petition also did not require interpretation of any constitutional provision. He alleged that the government had deliberately failed to implement the court orders.
While dictating the order on the petitions, the bench said that since September 16 had been fixed for the next hearing in the previous order, the court was informed that after the Supreme Court’s order, some petitions had been filed in the Islamabad High Court seeking relief for Imran Khan for medical treatment.
The matter subsequently went to the Constitutional Court.
The Supreme Court also noted in its order that, before proceeding with the petitions, the Constitutional Court had sought the record of the cases pending before the Supreme Court and asked that they be fixed for hearing before the Constitutional Court.
The Supreme Court directed the Attorney General to assist it on how pending cases of a similar nature should be proceeded with.
Justice Shahid Waheed also said in the order that the Supreme Court did not want any contradiction to emerge among the highest courts.
The order further recorded that during the hearing, the Attorney General acknowledged that what had happened in the matter had never happened before.
Earlier, when the hearing of the contempt petition began in the Supreme Court, no representative of the Federal or provincial governments was present.
The court expressed displeasure, ordered the Attorney General to appear immediately and announced a short break.
When the hearing resumed after the break, the Additional Attorney General was present instead of the Attorney General.
The court again adjourned the hearing briefly and ordered the Attorney General to appear.
After the formal commencement of the hearing, Justice Shahid Waheed, heading the three-member bench, told the Attorney General that, prima facie, the Supreme Court’s order had not been implemented and that the order regarding meetings and transferring Imran Khan to a hospital remained in force.
