Asma questions make-up of Judicial Commission
SCBA president alleges judges are being elevated on political grounds.
LAHORE:
Citing examples of elevation of judges who remained supporters of military rulers, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Asma Jahangir on Tuesday questioned the legality of the Judicial Commission (JC).
Addressing a press conference, Asma said that lawyers with political affiliations were being appointed as judges, adding that the make-up of the JC was against constitutional provisions.
She said that according to Article 175 (A) of the Constitution, an advocate with no less than 15 years of practice in high courts could be nominated by a bar council for a term of two years as a member of the JC.
However, she said that a member, who is from Balochistan, is an additional judge. This militates against the Constriction which states that the most senior judge of the high court should be a member of the JC.
Asma also questioned the functioning of the JC, saying that by not elevating any lawyer from Lahore is like sending a message to the bar of Lahore that it does not have a single competent lawyer who could serve as a judge.
In her strong remarks, Asma said that if Lahore is considered to have a ‘brain-drain’, then those at the top are ‘brain-dead’.
The SCBA president added that ‘seniority’ amongst those elevated was being determined according to personal ‘liking and disliking’.
She said that by mostly appointing sessions judges as LHC judges, it seemed that the LHC was converted into the “Higher Sessions Court”.
Asma alleged that a lawyer was not elevated as a judge for his previous association with a political party, even though corruption of judges is usually ignored.
She said that the lawyers carried out their movement for the independence of judiciary, not for the restoration of a few individuals. She said that although some judges and lawyers gained huge profits in the movement, “we did not participate in the movement for personal gains”.
Responding to a question, she said that Justice Jawad S Khawaja was ‘rewarded’ for his struggle for the restoration of judges by being appointed as an SC judge. Justice Jawad had resigned as a judge of the LHC during the movement.
However, SCBA Secretary Qamar Zaman Qureshi objected to this view. He said that Justice Jawad deserved to be a judge and was appointed purely on merit.
Speaking about the reopening of Bhutto’s trial, Asma said that it was not simply a matter of miscarriage of justice but a murder sanctified by a biased and colluding judiciary. After the admission made by Justice (r) Nasim Hassan Shah through the media, the question that arises is, “What is the remedy for an execution that took place because of a court conviction that was planned and accepted by the judiciary itself who fully realised that such a conviction was indeed illegal?”
Speaking about Mukhtaran Mai’s case, Asma said that she endorsed the statement of Aitzaz Ahsan who condemned the SC’s verdict.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 27th, 2011.
Citing examples of elevation of judges who remained supporters of military rulers, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Asma Jahangir on Tuesday questioned the legality of the Judicial Commission (JC).
Addressing a press conference, Asma said that lawyers with political affiliations were being appointed as judges, adding that the make-up of the JC was against constitutional provisions.
She said that according to Article 175 (A) of the Constitution, an advocate with no less than 15 years of practice in high courts could be nominated by a bar council for a term of two years as a member of the JC.
However, she said that a member, who is from Balochistan, is an additional judge. This militates against the Constriction which states that the most senior judge of the high court should be a member of the JC.
Asma also questioned the functioning of the JC, saying that by not elevating any lawyer from Lahore is like sending a message to the bar of Lahore that it does not have a single competent lawyer who could serve as a judge.
In her strong remarks, Asma said that if Lahore is considered to have a ‘brain-drain’, then those at the top are ‘brain-dead’.
The SCBA president added that ‘seniority’ amongst those elevated was being determined according to personal ‘liking and disliking’.
She said that by mostly appointing sessions judges as LHC judges, it seemed that the LHC was converted into the “Higher Sessions Court”.
Asma alleged that a lawyer was not elevated as a judge for his previous association with a political party, even though corruption of judges is usually ignored.
She said that the lawyers carried out their movement for the independence of judiciary, not for the restoration of a few individuals. She said that although some judges and lawyers gained huge profits in the movement, “we did not participate in the movement for personal gains”.
Responding to a question, she said that Justice Jawad S Khawaja was ‘rewarded’ for his struggle for the restoration of judges by being appointed as an SC judge. Justice Jawad had resigned as a judge of the LHC during the movement.
However, SCBA Secretary Qamar Zaman Qureshi objected to this view. He said that Justice Jawad deserved to be a judge and was appointed purely on merit.
Speaking about the reopening of Bhutto’s trial, Asma said that it was not simply a matter of miscarriage of justice but a murder sanctified by a biased and colluding judiciary. After the admission made by Justice (r) Nasim Hassan Shah through the media, the question that arises is, “What is the remedy for an execution that took place because of a court conviction that was planned and accepted by the judiciary itself who fully realised that such a conviction was indeed illegal?”
Speaking about Mukhtaran Mai’s case, Asma said that she endorsed the statement of Aitzaz Ahsan who condemned the SC’s verdict.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 27th, 2011.