The six additional judges awaiting confirmation of their services are Justice Mahmood Ahmad, Justice Arshad Mahmood Tabassum, Justice Tariq Abbasi, Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Masood Jahangir, Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan and Justice M Sohail Iqbal Bhatti. They were appointed in October 2013 as additional judges for one year and their tenure will expire on October 28.
Regarding the appointment of 11 new judges in the LHC, sources said that the JCP has rescheduled its meeting and the matter will be decided on October 17, instead of October 2. The JCP will also decide the appointment of five judges of the Peshawar High Court during that meeting.
Putting on the robe again
The JCP has decided to consider the reappointment of two LHC judges who were sacked under the July 31, 2009 judgment of the Supreme Court. They had been appointed on the recommendations of the then chief justice, Abdul Hameed Dogar.
LHC Chief Justice Khawaja Imtiaz has recommended two sacked judges – Ali Akbar Qureshi and Anwarul Haq Pannu – for reappointment. Qureshi was appointed as additional judge of the LHC on February 9, 2008 and Pannu was appointed on March 1, 2008.
Another judge sacked for being part of the judiciary during Pervez Musharraf’s regime when the then chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was sacked along with dozens of other superior court judges was allowed to don the robe again.
On May 8, the JCP approved the reappointment of Aamir Raza Naqvi as a Sindh High Court judge. It had also offered to reappoint NAB Prosecutor General KK Agha as SHC judge if he renounced his British nationality – but he declined the offer.
The possible reappointment of the sacked judges has been welcomed by the bar. Supreme Court Bar Association President Kamran Murtaza, while talking to The Express Tribune, appreciated the recommendation of the LHC chief justice to reappoint the sacked judges.
More than 100 judges were sacked under the top court’s July 31, 2009 ruling but former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry did not consider their reappointment during his four-year tenure.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 6th, 2014.
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The new / prospective Judges should be scrutinized through intelligence sources before confirmation. Presently Judiciary from Ahlmad to a Mr Justice is unreliable and corrupt.The most callous department that needs cleaning and reformation.Corrupt practices wise its almost equal to Police and Patwaris.