SHC reference: Justice Gulzar promoted to SC

Justice Mushir says he was consulted.

KARACHI: Visibly disappointed yet preferring unaminity amongst the members of the Bench, Chief Justice of High Court of Sindh, Justice Mushir Alam said here on Monday that he was consulted about elevation of judges to superior judiciary and his decision was “in order to strengthen the institutions”.

Addressing a full court reference in honour of Justice Gulzar Ahmed, who has been elevated to Supreme Court, Justice Mushir said that Chief Justice of Pakistan had consulted him about the elevation of Justice Gulzar, his (Justice Mushir Alam) own elevation and whether he had any reservation about elevation of Justice Gulzar.

“I consulted my friends, well-wishers and brother judges who helped me reach a decision. Institutions are dearer than individuals. Every one wants to become a judge of highest court of Pakistan. I too may have such aspirations and may have made some move but in the end I preferred the stronger institution”, said Justice Mushir Alam.

He reminded that nation was passing through a very crucial phase and if we started compromising on principles we would come back again to old track which nation was treading before Nov 03 (when judges defied unconstitutional acts of a dictator).

Earlier, referring to appointment of judges to Sindh High Court, he said that in past too, judiciary was criticised for appointments. Responding to speech of Advocate General Sindh Abul Fattah Malik, Justice Mushir Alam said that only men with undoubted integrity should be appointed as judges. “When I was heading a bench in interior Sindh, I used to seek assistance from Mr Malik on criminal side and he used to tell me that quality of evidence not the quantity matters. This applied too in case of appointment of judges”, he said.

AG Sindh in his speech at the full court reference said that after elevation of Justice Gulzar, SHC will have virtually 14 judges. He said that hurdles in appointment of judges on the recommendations of government were delaying the appointment of judges.

President of Sindh High Court Bar Association, Anwar Mansoor Khan in his address also referred to the controversies over the appointment of judges due to different recommendations by Judicial Commission and the Parliamentary Committee.

Earlier, the speakers including Deputy Attorney General Asihk Raza, President Karachi Bar Association, Muhammad Aqil, and others paid tributes to Justice Gulzar Ahmed saying that he deserved elevation to the apex court.

The reference ceremony was well-attended and all the judges available at Karachi attended it besides senior lawyers.

The Sindh High Court is now left with six confirmed judges, six ad hoc judges and two judges waiting for a judgment by apex court in a petition seeking their confirmation which was recommended by Judicial Commission but disapproved by the Parliamentary Committee.

SHC has a sanctioned strength of 40 judges but is short of 26 judges resulting in daily increase in back log of cases.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 15^th,  2011.