Judicial controversy: Protests against appointment of G-B chief judge

New chief judge has not served in the Supreme Court nor does he have the requisite experience, says Advocate Ahsan Ali

GILGIT:

Lawyers in Gilgit, on Tuesday, rejected the appointment of the new chief judge of the Supreme Appellate Court Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) for being illegal and in violation of the Self-governance order 2009.

“The newly appointed chief judge doesn’t fulfil the criteria set down in the Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-governance Order 2009,” said a statement issued soon after a general body meeting of the G-B Supreme Appellate Court Bar Association in Gilgit. “Therefore we don’t accept him as chief judge of the apex court,” it added.

Advocate Ahsan Ali, who presided over the meeting in the absence of the president of G-B Supreme Appellate Court Bar Association told The Express Tribune that the new chief judge, Justice Rana Muhammad Arshad Khan, does not fulfil the criteria stated in the Self-governance Order 2009 which specifies that the chief judge must be a retired judge of the Supreme Court or should posses at least 15 years of experience as advocate of the Supreme Court.

“The new chief judge has not served in the Supreme Court nor does he have the requisite experience,” he said. “Lawyers across G-B will boycott courts in protest if the prime minister does not immediately cancel his appointment.”

Justice Khan was appointed after the contract of former chief judge, Justice Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi expired in January. The decision to extend Justice Abbasi’s  tenure was revoked by the G-B government after it developed differences with him over his extension.

A large number of youth from G-B besieged the G-B House in Islamabad against the appointment of Justice Arshad Khan, as chief judge of SAC on Tuesday.

The protesters from the Progressive Youth Front said the appointment was illegal since it undermined their fundamental rights. The chief judge’s appointment has been challenged in the Supreme Court by a resident of G-B.

The petitioner has stated that on the retirement of the chief judge of the SAC, the senior most judge should replace him. Referring to article 175A, the petitioner said that the president is also bound to appoint the senior most judge of the Supreme Court as Chief Justice of Pakistan. This is also in practice in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, he maintained in a petition filed through his lawyer, Ikram Chaudhry.

With additional reporting by Azam khan in Islamabad

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8^th, 2012.