Ad hoc appointments: Commission issues recommendations

PBC’s Yasin Azad opposed the appointment of ad hoc judges

LAHORE: The Judicial Commission on Appointment of Judges on Thursday recommended the names of two former judges –Tariq Pervez and Khilji Arif Hussain— as ad hoc judges of the Supreme Court for one year.

The appointment of Mohsin Kiyani and Aurangzeb Khan as additional judges of Islamabad High Court (IHC) was also recommended at a meeting of the commission held at the SC Lahore Registry. The commission further approved confirmation of Justice Amir Farooq as an IHC additional judge.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Anwar Zaheer Jamali chaired the meeting while Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, the SC senior pusine judge, Justices Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, Ameer Hani Muslim, Ijaz Afzal Khan, IHC Chief Justice Anwar Khan Kasi, Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi, the IHC senior pusine judge, Federal Law Minister Pervez Rashid, Attorney General Salman Butt and the Pakistan Bar Council’s Yasin Azad were present on the occasion.

During the meeting, the Pakistan Bar Council’s representative opposed the appointment of ad hoc judges.

Azad said ad hoc appointments had been discouraged in a renowned SC ruling in the Al-Jihad Trust case.

However, others said Article 182 of the Constitution authorised the SC to appoint ad hoc judges in pressing times.

The commission will forward its recommendations to a parliamentary committee for final approval.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2015.