Lawyers announce countrywide strike against elevation of Justice Ayesha

Representatives of bar associations also urge Chief Justice to consider following the seniority principle

ISLAMABAD:

The representatives of superior bars again threatened to boycott all proceedings of courts in case the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP)'s January 6 meeting to consider the nomination of Justice Ayesha Malik for her appointment as Supreme Court judge is not postponed or recalled.

A meeting of the representatives of Pakistan, provincial and Islamabad bar councils, Supreme Court Bar Association and all the high court bar associations were held on Monday.

The meeting expressed its commitment to the independence of the judiciary, rule of law and establishment of real democratic institutions in the country.

Read more: Judge sets out reasons why he opposed Ayesha’s elevation

The representative meeting took notice of the nomination of Justice Ayesha Malik for appointment in the Honourable Supreme Court, violating the seniority principle, superseding three Honourable judges of the Lahore High Court (LHC) including the Honourable Chief Justice, who are not only senior to her in service but also senior in legal practice before their elevation to the Honourable High Court.

The participants were of the view that the representative meeting also holds that the bar is consistently demanding for laying down the criteria for the elevation of judges to the superior judiciary not only for appointment in the Supreme Court but also in the High courts and the Federal Shariat Court.

"The bar is of the view that the detailed criteria for elevation and appointment of judges in the superior courts are to be laid down by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan in consultations with the bar and the Parliamentary Committee that are all equal stakeholders."

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The representatives of the bar councils in the JCP from over the last three years are also demanding amendments in the Judicial Commission Rules, 1980, which are, admittedly, very sketchy but no heed is being paid to such very valid and genuine demands.

"Therefore, this meeting is of the considered view that no further appointment in the Supreme Court be made till the detailed criteria viz-a-viz taking into consideration the seniority principle and so also the amendments in the Judicial Commission of Pakistan Rules, 1980 for such appointment are made."

This representatives meeting would further like to bring to the notice of the honourable Chief Justice of Pakistan about his own well-founded principle that no Chief Justice should initiate the process of any elevation or appointment in the superior judiciary nearing his end of tenure, therefore, the meeting with all humility request him to recall January 6, 2022, meeting of Judicial Commission of Pakistan for appointment of Justice Mrs Ayesha Malik, in the Hon’ble Supreme Court.

The representative meeting also resolved to approach the Parliament and all the political parties for amendments in Article 175A and Article 209 of the Constitution with regard to the appointment of judges in the superior courts and the removal thereof.

Justice Ayesha became an LHC judge in March 2012 and is currently on number four on the LHC judge seniority list

In the case of her elevation, she will work as the Supreme Court judge until June 2031.

She will also become the chief justice of Pakistan after the retirement of Justice Yahya Afridi in January 2030.

No female judge has ever been elevated to the Supreme Court in the judicial history of the country.