Crisis averted as Zardari signs off on pending judges
The crisis that emerged due to a delay by the president in signing the summaries for the appointment of additional and permanent judges to high courts resolved on Tuesday when President Asif Ali Zardari finally signed all such pending summaries.
The development took place a day after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered the federal government and the Ministry of Law to submit written reports on the delay.
According to a statement posted on the President of Pakistan X account, Zardari approved the appointment of additional judges to various high courts and the confirmation of certain additional judges as permanent judges.
The president approved the appointment of additional judges to the Lahore High Court (LHC), the Sindh High Court (SHC), the Peshawar High Court (PHC), the IHC and the Balochistan High Court (BHC). He also approved the confirmation of certain additional judges of the SHC and the LHC as permanent judges. "President Zardari also approved the equalisation of the salaries, allowances and pensions of Supreme Court judges with those of judges of the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC).
"He also approved amendments to the 1997 Order relating to the leave, pensions and privileges of high court judges. The president further approved the appointment of Haroon Akhtar as the Prime Minister's Adviser on Industries and Production," the statement added.
On July 21, the PPP failed to secure approval for any of its preferred nominees for appointment as high court judges, as the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) cleared 19 appointments and confirmations across four high courts during meetings chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi.
According to sources, more than 70 names were placed before the commission by its members.
PPP's senior legal leader and JCP member Senator Farooq H Naek had proposed 33 candidates, including 16 for the SHC, 10 for the LHC, five for the BHC and two for the IHC. However, none of the PPP's preferred nominees secured the commission's approval.
President Asif Ali Zardari, who is a co-chairman of the PPP, did not sign the summaries immediately, further straining relations between the coalition partners, the PPP and the PML-N. A petitioner, Luqman Zafar, later approached the IHC against the delay.
According to sources, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq and Special Adviser to the PM Dr Syed Tauqir Hussain Shah played significant role in resolving the crisis.
The latest legal challenge came against the backdrop of an increasingly contentious constitutional debate over the president's role in judicial appointments.
President Zardari had neither approved the JCP's recommendations nor returned the summary with objections, prompting questions over whether the Constitution permitted an indefinite delay in acting on judicial appointments.
According to a report, the federal government was also considering approaching the superior judiciary to seek a constitutional interpretation of the matter.
While the Supreme Court had previously ruled that the president did not have the authority to reject nominations made by the JCP, Article 175A (8) of the Constitution does not prescribe a timeframe within which the president had to act on the recommendations.
IHC additional judges take oath
After approval of the summaries, three new additional IHC judgesJustice Ayaz Shaukat, Justice Umair Majeed Malik and Justice Shah Rukh Arjumandtook oath in a ceremony held at the capital's high court. Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar administered the oath.
IHC judges, Islamabad Advocate General Naveed Hayat Malik and Additional Attorney General Rashid Hafeez attended the oath-taking ceremony. President of the Islamabad High Court Bar Association Wajid Gilani and representatives of the Islamabad Bar Council were also present on the occasion.
The Registrar's Office issued the cause lists, with the cause lists of Justice Shaukat and Justice Malik made available on the court's website. The cause list of Justice Arjumand was also issued, paving the way for all three additional judges to commence judicial proceedings from Wednesday (today).