Written by Hamza Shahnawaz in Taxation The Federal Constitutional Court upholds the Supreme Court’s 2021 judgment, reaffirming that review jurisdiction is limited and that constitutionally prescribed legislative procedures must be followed. ISLAMABAD, October 28, 2026: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has dismissed 1,178 review petitions challenging the Supreme Court’s December 28, 2021, judgment on the constitutional validity of the Income Support Levy Act 2013. In its 16-page judgment, Chief Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan held that review jurisdiction could not be treated as appellate jurisdiction and that settled matters could not be reopened without an apparent error on the record meeting the required legal threshold. The court recalled that a two-member Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa, had dismissed an appeal in Commissioner Inland Revenue v. Muhammad Mustafa on December 28, 2021, concerning the constitutional validity of the Income Support Levy Act 2013. While review petitions against that decision remained pending, a three-member Supreme Court bench allowed an appeal in another case involving a substantially similar legal question on June 21, 2022. The judgment, authored by Justice Munib Akhtar, raised concerns about judicial discipline and institutional conventions. The FCC observed that a subsequent decision in a separate case did not automatically overturn an earlier judgment. Where review petitions were pending, another bench was expected to respect the previously decided legal question. The court emphasised that consistency in judicial decisions and adherence to institutional principles were essential to maintaining the integrity of the judicial system. Constitutional procedure at the centre…