Tariq Afridi case lands in SC

Justice Minallah asks how NA committee rejects JCP nomination based on intelligence reports

ISLAMABAD:

A case related to rejection of the nomination of a judge to a provincial high court by the Parliamentary Committee on Judges’ Appointment has landed in the Supreme Court.

The committee in July 2019 rejected a proposal of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) to appoint Advocate Tariq Afridi as an additional judge of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) allegedly on the basis of the reports submitted by intelligence agencies.

Afridi had later approached the apex court against the decision of the committee and a three-judge Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial took up the petition on Monday.

Justice Athar Minallah, a member of the bench, asked how intelligence agencies could control the process of appointment of judges. “This will affect independence of the judiciary,” he noted.

“The parliamentary committee, instead of looking at the professional expertise of the judge, relied on the reports of intelligence agencies,” Justice Minallah said.

The CJP observed that the court will discuss the legal aspects of the matter. He asked if the Parliamentary Committee on Judges’ Appointment could reject the recommendations of the JCP.

The bench later asked the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) to assist the court in the matter as it adjourned the hearing till next month.

The JCP is a commission responsible for appointing judges to the Supreme Court and provincial high courts. The CJP heads the commission.

According to the SC website, the recommendations of the JCP with regard to appointing judges to the superior courts are sent to the parliamentary committee.

“The committee after receipt of [the JCP] nomination…may confirm the nominee by majority of its total membership within 14 days, failing which the nomination shall be deemed to have been confirmed.”