Judicial appointments: Parliamentary panel rejects nomination for SC justice

Accepts all other recommendations of the National Judicial Commission.

ISLAMABAD:

The parliamentary committee (PC) on judges’ appointments approved the National Judicial Commission’s (NJC) recommendations on Thursday, with the exception of Justice (retd) Athar Saeed’s nomination as a Supreme Court (SC) justice.

The NJC had recommended the elevation of four judges to the apex court last month. Senator Nayyar Bokhari, who was chairing the committee, when asked to comment on the decision said: “Deliberations on his (Saeed’s) nomination as a SC justice remain inconclusive. Due to the sensitivity of the issue I cannot reveal the committee’s concerns.” Justice Saeed retired as a judge of the Sindh High Court in September. The PC seconded NJC’s recommendations for appointment of three judges to the SC: Justice Ijaz Afzal Khan, Justice Chaudhry Ijaz and Justice Syed Gulzar Ahmed.

The NJC, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, had forwarded its recommendations to the PC for appointments to the superior judiciary. The PC has accepted the nominations of two chief justices of the high courts, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed as Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court and Justice Dost Muhammad as Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court. The panel has also endorsed the regularisation of two additional judges, Justice Anwar Kasi and Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan and appointment of three additional judges to the Islamabad High Court (IHC). Their names are Shaukat Siddiqui, Azam Afridi and Noorul Haq Qadri.

The full court must comprise seven judges, according to the IHC Act 2010. Apart from the chief justice, six judges have to be appointed from each of the provinces, Islamabad Capital Territory and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The IHC will now have six judges including Chief Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman, Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Justice Muhammad Anwar Kasi from Balochistan.

The parliamentary panel has forwarded its recommendations to the prime minister who will refer them to the president for final approval. The PC has endorsed the NJC’s recommendations in light of the 18th amendment.

MNA Asma Arbab Alamgir missed Thursday’s meeting due to personal engagements. MNAs Sardar Mehtab Abbassi, Aftab Shaaban Merani, Khwaja Asif and Senators Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain, Ishaq Dar and Deputy Attorney General KK Agha attended the meeting.

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