Asma Jahangir Group bags Pakistan Bar Council elections

Secures 18 of a total of 23 seats; forms committee on judicial reforms

ISLAMABAD:

The Asma Jahangir Group has maintained its dominance in the apex regularity body of lawyers known as the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) by securing 18 of the 23 total seats in the elections.

The same group's candidate, Khush Dil Khan, has been elected as the new vice chairman of the PBC unopposed for a period of one year. Khan is also a sitting MPA of the Awami National Party (ANP) in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly.

Interestingly, of the 23 PBC members, 18 are associated with the Asma Group. Two members from Sindh have decided to sit on the independent bench while only three PBC members of the Hamid Khan Group will be sitting on the opposition bench.

During their first meeting, the PBC members formed a special committee led by Farooq H Naek to give proposals on judicial reforms.

The committee has been mandated with recommending proposals on the procedure of judges, appointment under Article 175-A of the Constitution, judges’ accountability under Article 209 and determining the parameters of suo motu/public interest proceedings under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution.

One member of the PBC revealed to The Express Tribune that the council has expressed dissatisfaction over the non-appointment of judges in the Lahore High Court for the last two years. The PBC believes that the respective high court chief justice should be given a free hand to nominate names of judges for the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP).

The PBC also expressed serious concern over the alleged interference of judges who despite not being JCP members are using their influence in the process.

Likewise, PBC decided to move an application for early fixation of its petition against the LHC judgment wherein treason trial of former military ruler Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf stands quashed.

PBC statement

Regarding the appointment of judges of the superior courts, the council while reiterating its earlier stance of ensuring meaningful and purposive consultation with representatives of the bar, before initiating judges names for appointment and making the process fair as well as transparent, expressed its serious concern over delay in appointment of judges in different high courts against the posts lying vacant since long.

The council was dismayed over the long delay in appointing judges in the LHC where almost 20 posts have been lying vacant for a very long period of time.

The recommendations of the LHC chief justice placed before the JCP a number of times were not considered on one pretext or the other and in the recent meeting of the JCP, the matter of appointment of LHC judges once again remained inconclusive, thus undermining the recommendations of the LHC CJ.

The council was, therefore, of the view that as the present process of appointment of judges was not fair and transparent, parliament should look into the matter for bringing about appropriate amendments in Article 175A of the Constitution, so as to strike a balance in the roles of the JCP and the Parliamentary Committee on the Appointment of Judges, which henceforth is being dominated by the judiciary.

The council also emphasised the need for re-visiting the Munir Bhatti’s case and reviewing the 19th Constitutional Amendment.

Making public proceedings of SJC

The PBC expressed that it is a long-standing demand of the legal fraternity to make public the proceedings of the SJC in respect of complaints and references against judges of the superior courts, dealt with and decided by it, over the years, but it is a matter of regret that the SJC never acceded to the demand of the legal fraternity.

Therefore, the council while reiterating its earlier stance, demanded of the SJC, to make public its previous proceedings taken on complaints/references against judges of the superior courts as well as the number of cases pending before it, with details of such cases eg names of the complainants, the judges concerned and the allegations made against them.

Right of appeal against SC decision on suo motu cases

The council also reiterated that the chief justice of Pakistan should make suitable amendments in the Supreme Court Rules, 1980, so as to provide a right of appeal before a larger bench of the Supreme Court, comprising at least five judges, against its decisions/orders/judgments taken/passed by exercising its suo motu jurisdiction, under Article 184(3) of the Constitution.

Independence of judiciary

The PBC also reiterated its oft-repeated demand for independence of judiciary and end to the onslaughts of the executive against the independent judges of the superior courts especially Justice Qazi Faez Isa, and expressed its resolve that it will continue to strive for the supremacy of the Constitution, the rule of law, independence of judiciary, strengthening the democratic Institutions and continuity of the democratic system of government and foil such attempts of the executive in the future as well.

Law and order situation

The PBC while expressing serious concerns on the deteriorating law and order situation and rapid increase in incidents of terrorism in the country, especially the slaying of 11 Hazara coal miners in Quetta and increasing cases of kidnappings which speak a lot of the inaction and failure of the law enforcement agencies, demanded of the government to make serious efforts and take foolproof measures to ensure that such incidents are not repeated and to provide safety and security to the people of Pakistan.