Full bench: SHC issues notices in judge appointment case

The case had been postponed due to Begum Bhutto’s death.

KARACHI: The respondents in a case demanding the confirmation of judges have been summoned to court for a hearing on November 14.

On Thursday, a full Sindh High Court (SHC) bench ordered the notices while deciding an application for an urgent hearing of petitions filed by two bar associations and a common citizen regarding the delay in the appointment of judges to the SHC and non-confirmation of ad hoc judges by the parliamentary committee despite judicial recommendation.

Earlier, the bench comprising Justices Maqbool Baqar, Faisal Arab and Sajjad Ali Shah, heard Barrister Farough A Naseem who said that the case was fixed on Monday but was discharged due to the death of Begum Nusrat Bhutto and a national holiday the next day.

He said that the matter was of public importance and urgent as the dispensation of justice was being delayed due to the lethargy of the government.

The bench, however, after hearing Barrister Farough and Qazi Khalid Ali, while ordering the intimation of notice, adjourned hearing till November 14.

The bench also deferred a decision on a request by the counsel for petitioners to allow them to inspect the report of the parliamentary committee placed on record. The bench said that first it would go through the content and would then decide whether it can be shown to the petitioners or not.

The parliamentary committee on the appointment of judges had decided not to confirm Messers Ghulam Sarwar Korai and Irfan Saadat Khan. The decision was challenged by the Sukkur High Court Bar Association, Sindh High Court Bar Association and a citizen.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2011.