Federal Constitutional Court staff pay, perks surpass Supreme Court's amid supremacy row

The development comes amid an intensifying constitutional debate between the FCC and the SC over their respective jurisdictions and authority following the 27th Constitutional Amendment.

In a recent judgement, the SC ruled it is not subordinate to the FCC despite FCC’s repeated assertions that exclusive constitutional adjudication now rests with it after the amendment.

The ruling, authored by Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi, interpreted the amended constitutional framework as creating two co-equal apex courts with separate jurisdictions, rather than a hierarchical arrangement placing one above the other. The judgement diverged sharply from several FCC rulings declaring its decisions binding on all courts, including the SC.

Pay gap of up to Rs300,000 in some cases raises questions

In a number of judgements, the FCC maintained the SC no longer retained the authority to interpret the Constitution after the enactment of the 27th Amendment and that constitutional interpretation exclusively fell within FCC’s domain.

Against this backdrop, FCC officials have emerged as one of the most highly compensated segments of the public sector, with salary structures and benefits significantly exceeding those available to employees of the SC and high courts.

Official notifications issued by the FCC reveal an extensive package of salaries, allowances and financial incentives for employees ranging from lower-grade staff to senior officers, raising questions about the growing financial privileges being extended to the newly established institution.

According to a notification issued last week, judicial and utility allowances for FCC employees were fixed at 50pc each of the running basic pay. The decision effectively doubles employees’ basic salaries through additional benefits.

In an earlier office order, the court had also approved a special judicial allowance equivalent to three times the basic pay, substantially increasing the overall monthly emoluments of employees across various grades.

The benefits apply to employees from BPS-2 to BPS-22 under notifications and office orders issued between November 2025 and January 2026. During the same period, the Federal Constitutional Court also created dozens of new posts to expand its administrative structure.

Another notification granted transport monetisation to officers from BPS-17 to BPS-22, ranging from Rs60,000 to Rs250,000 per month. Under the arrangement, officers would receive cash payments in place of official transport facilities.

By comparison, transport monetisation available to SC officers starts at Rs65,000 for BS-17 officers and rises to Rs95,000 for BS-22 officers.

A senior court official said the widening disparity between the salaries and allowances of FCC and Supreme Court employees had increased the difference in monthly compensation to between Rs250,000 and Rs300,000 in certain cases.

Separate gazette notifications also showed the creation of more than 25 posts in the Federal Constitutional Court, including those of registrar, six additional registrars and the secretary to FCC chief justice, all carrying special pay scales substantially higher than those available to ordinary government servants.

According to the documents, the expenditures would be met from the FCC’s allocated budget for the fiscal year 2025-26. However, no public details have been released regarding the total financial implications of the new compensation structure or its long-term sustainability.