Judge elevation case set for November 16

KARACHI: A constitutional petition questioning the recommendations by a judicial commission was taken up on Thursday by a division bench of the High Court of Sindh.

The case was heard by Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi but they adjourned it as the petitioner NGO was not represented.

The bench treated the matter as urgent on its own initiative but petitioner Rana Faizul Hasan of the United Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, was absent. He was said to be busy before a bench headed by the chief justice of the SHC.

The bench then put off the hearing indefinitely, but after an application was moved by the petitioner, the court fixed it again for hearing on November 16.

The petitioner has challenged the commission’s recommendations, maintaining that according to the principle of seniority, the commission should have recommended Chief Justice Mushir Alam for elevation to the Supreme Court instead of the senior most judge, Justice Gulzar Ahmed.

The petitioner relies on two judgments by the Supreme Court itself, including Al Jihad case, and asks the SHC to consider the commission’s recommendation.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11^th,  2011.