Re-appointment of adhoc judges challenged

LAHORE: A petition has been filed before the Supreme Court of Pakistan, against the full court resolution carried on February 14 to seek extension in the adhoc service of two judges of the apex court.

The petition was filed by Watan Party in the Lahore registry of the Supreme Court, requesting the court to also do away with the scheme of appointing adhoc judges as envisaged through the Judicial Commission under the 18th amendment. The petitioner also asked that the minimum age requirement for appointing high court judges be brought down to 40 years from the existing 45 in order to provide the judges a longer period to serve with the superior judiciary.

Barrister Zafarullah Khan termed the passage of the resolution that seeks re-appointment of adhoc judges Khalilur Rehman Ramday and Rahmat Ali Jaffery, carried unanimously by 17 judges of the Supreme Court on February 14, unprecedented. The petition maintains that the resolution conflicts with the Supreme Court verdict in the 18th amendment case, which authorises the Judicial Commission to make such decisions. “The resolution is a negation of the SC decision. It appears to be a bid to pressure the president into accepting the adhoc appointment of the two judges,” reads the petition. Khan also said that the demand made through the resolution was contradictory to the SC direction to discourage the after service re-appointments of retired public functionaries. According to the petition adhoc appointments also go against the Al-Jihad case verdict.

The petitioner has also questioned composition of the present Judicial Commission, contending it comprises two senior judges of the Supreme Court besides Chief Justice of Pakistan as head of the commission notwithstanding the fact that the number of judges has been increased to four in the 19th amendment.

The petitioner contends that if workload necessitates re-appointment of adhoc judges, the problem would be better addressed by reducing the minimum age requirement for SC judges.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 23^rd, 2011.