Elevation to SC: Lawyers demand more Sindhi judges
SC bar chief says seniority principle flouted.
HYDERABAD:
The president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Muhammad Yasin Azad, is not happy with the elevation of Justice Gulzar Ahmed of the Sindh High Court to the apex court which, according to him, was in violation of the principle of seniority. The chief justice of the SHC, Mushir Alam, should have been elevated instead.
“I disagree with the method adopted for the appointment,” said Azad while addressing a reception here on Tuesday. He was of the view that only the senior most judge of the SHC should have been promoted. “The ordinary people will no longer trust the courts if they find that we are unfair with our own community.”
The reception, which was jointly organised by the Hyderabad chapter of the Sindh High Court and district bar associations, echoed with the demands to fill up the 26 vacant seats of the SHC and appointment of Sindhi judges.
A Parliamentary Committee had approved three of the four judges recommended by the Judicial Commission for elevation to the Supreme Court. They included Lahore High Court Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and Justice Gulzar Ahmed of the Sindh High Court. Azad recalled that in his first meeting with Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, after taking over as SCBA chief on November 4, he had emphasised the appointment of SC judges on merit as well as seniority.
“While the chief justices of the Lahore and Peshawar high courts were recommended for elevation to the apex court, in the case of Sindh the seniority rule was not followed,” he lamented, adding that the exaltation of Justice Gulzar also negated the principles laid out in the Justice Sajjad Ali Shah case.
He also called for the filling up of all the vacant seats in the provincial high courts within two months. “The backlog of cases is certain to increase when the SHC is working with only 14 of the 40 allocated judges,” he said.
Azad endorsed the demand for the appointment of Sindhi judges to the SHC, saying they were more competent.
Akhtar Hussain, a member of the Pakistan Bar Council, reminded the audience that the lawyers of Sindh, especially from cities like Sukkur, Dadu, Larkana and Khairpur may be less proficient in English but their perception of justice was better than that of their urban counterparts.
Salahuddin Panhwar, another member of the PBC, demanded the Hyderabad Circuit Bench of the SHC be elevated to a permanent bench through a constitutional amendment. “With its two judges the bench has jurisdiction over 13 out of the 23 districts in Sindh.”
Sindh Additional Advocate General Allah Bachayo Soomro, who is also the president the SHCBA in Hyderabad, pointed out that four of the six court rooms in Hyderabad bench were vacant for want of judges. He demanded that two division benches and two single benches should be constituted in Hyderabad to expedite the disposal of cases.
High Court Bar chief Anwar Mansoor Khan, Salahuddin Gandapuri of Sindh of Bar Council and HDBA president Nisar Durrani also spoke on the occasion.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 16th, 2011.
The president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Muhammad Yasin Azad, is not happy with the elevation of Justice Gulzar Ahmed of the Sindh High Court to the apex court which, according to him, was in violation of the principle of seniority. The chief justice of the SHC, Mushir Alam, should have been elevated instead.
“I disagree with the method adopted for the appointment,” said Azad while addressing a reception here on Tuesday. He was of the view that only the senior most judge of the SHC should have been promoted. “The ordinary people will no longer trust the courts if they find that we are unfair with our own community.”
The reception, which was jointly organised by the Hyderabad chapter of the Sindh High Court and district bar associations, echoed with the demands to fill up the 26 vacant seats of the SHC and appointment of Sindhi judges.
A Parliamentary Committee had approved three of the four judges recommended by the Judicial Commission for elevation to the Supreme Court. They included Lahore High Court Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and Justice Gulzar Ahmed of the Sindh High Court. Azad recalled that in his first meeting with Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, after taking over as SCBA chief on November 4, he had emphasised the appointment of SC judges on merit as well as seniority.
“While the chief justices of the Lahore and Peshawar high courts were recommended for elevation to the apex court, in the case of Sindh the seniority rule was not followed,” he lamented, adding that the exaltation of Justice Gulzar also negated the principles laid out in the Justice Sajjad Ali Shah case.
He also called for the filling up of all the vacant seats in the provincial high courts within two months. “The backlog of cases is certain to increase when the SHC is working with only 14 of the 40 allocated judges,” he said.
Azad endorsed the demand for the appointment of Sindhi judges to the SHC, saying they were more competent.
Akhtar Hussain, a member of the Pakistan Bar Council, reminded the audience that the lawyers of Sindh, especially from cities like Sukkur, Dadu, Larkana and Khairpur may be less proficient in English but their perception of justice was better than that of their urban counterparts.
Salahuddin Panhwar, another member of the PBC, demanded the Hyderabad Circuit Bench of the SHC be elevated to a permanent bench through a constitutional amendment. “With its two judges the bench has jurisdiction over 13 out of the 23 districts in Sindh.”
Sindh Additional Advocate General Allah Bachayo Soomro, who is also the president the SHCBA in Hyderabad, pointed out that four of the six court rooms in Hyderabad bench were vacant for want of judges. He demanded that two division benches and two single benches should be constituted in Hyderabad to expedite the disposal of cases.
High Court Bar chief Anwar Mansoor Khan, Salahuddin Gandapuri of Sindh of Bar Council and HDBA president Nisar Durrani also spoke on the occasion.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 16th, 2011.