Constitution 1973 § Article 202A — Constitutional Benches of High Courts

Statutory text (English)

(1) There shall be Constitutional Benches of
a High Court comprising such Judges of a High Court and for such term as may be nominated and
determined by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan as constituted under clause

(5) of Article 175A, from
time to time.

(2) The most senior Judge amongst Judges nominated under clause

(1) shall be the Head of the
Constitutional Benches.
1[
(3) No Bench of a High Court other than a Constitutional Bench shall exercise jurisdiction vested
in the High Court under Article 199.]

(4) For the purposes of clause

(1), a Bench, to be nominated by a committee comprising the Head
of the Constitutional Benches and next two most senior Judges from amongst the Judges nominated under
clause

(1), shall hear and dispose of such matters.

(5) All petitions under sub-paragraph (i) of paragraph (a) and paragraph (c) of clause

(1) of Article
199 or appeals therefrom, pending or filed in a High Court prior to commencement of the
Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 (XXVI of 2024), subject to clause

(7), forthwith stand
transferred to the Constitutional Benches and shall only be heard and decided by Benches constituted under
clause

(4).

(6) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Constitution but subject to an Act of Majlis-e-Shoora
(Parliament) in respect of the Islamabad High Court and an Act of Provincial Assembly in respect of other
respective High Courts, a High Court may make rules regulating the practice and procedure of the Constitutional
Benches.

(7) This Article shall come into force, if in respect of–
(a) the Islamabad High Court, both Houses of *[Majlis-e-Shoora] (Parliament) in the joint
sitting; and
(a) a High Court, the respective Provincial Assembly,
through a resolution passed by majority of the total membership of the joint sitting or the
respective Provincial Assembly, as the case may be, give effect to the provisions of this Article.]

Source and verification

Source citation: Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, Art. 202A: Pakistan Code portal consolidated official PDF 'THE CONSTITUTION OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN' (incl. 26th Amdt Act 2024 & 27th Amdt Act 2025), p. 96, 97, ingested 2026-09-15. Automated transcription from official source (pypdf extraction, audited artifact repair); human admin re-check required before production.

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Official Urdu text status: pending_official_urdu_text. Where official Urdu wording has not been sourced, Qanoon does not substitute an unverified translation for the statutory text.

Historical text notes

1 historical record is linked to this section. Historical wording may be incomplete or pending verification; it is not presented as current law.

• Date not confirmed: Consolidated current text as published in the official Pakistan Code PDF (p. 96, 97) — reflects all amendments recorded in the official footnotes up to ingest date 2026-09-15. Automated transcription; per-amendment…

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