Judicial Appointments: ‘Court over-stepped its mandate’
The federation has been denied a full right of appeal in the judges’ appointments case, in breach of Article 10A of the constitution, argued Additional Attorney General K K Agha on Monday.
Agha argued that, by nullifying the parliamentary committee’s decision on the appointment of judges, the court had also violated the Islamic injunctions of the constitution.
A four-member bench of the Supreme Court was hearing the review petition filed by the government against the March 4 decision, setting aside the committee’s recommendations for the rejection of one-year extensions to six high court judges – four of the Lahore High Court and two of the Sindh High Court.
Agha stated that the apex court had no power to amend the constitution through judicial review.
“The court made an error in its judgment that the opinion of the chief justice of the high court carried no special weight within the judicial commission,” he said.
He also disputed the claim that the parliamentary committee went beyond its constitutional mandate by reviewing the decisions of the judicial commission.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 19th, 2011.
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