Pakistan

PM’s role glossed over in judges’ appointment: CJP

Zahid Gishkori August 02, 2010

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Monday said that if parliament continues to curtail the judiciary’s powers then it will be next to impossible to stop dictators from imposing martial law in the country.

The chief justice made the remark while hearing identical petitions challenging certain provisions of the 18th amendment, with particular reference to the formation of a judicial commission for the appointment of top judges.

“We have a parliamentary government system, so how could the parliamentary committee on constitutional reforms (PCCR) ignore the role of prime minister and send the recommendations pertaining to judges’ appointment directly to the president,” the CJP wondered aloud.

Such mandatory powers to PCCR are a clear violation of Articles 7 and 48 of the Constitution, he added. Justice Khalil-ur-Rahman Ramday chimed in with the observation that “the PCCR has the power to veto the recommendations of the judicial commission accordingly. The commission has a secondary role in the appointment of judges.”

At this point the federation’s lawyer Waseem Sajjad argued that the amendments have the recommendation of all the political parties and no elected parliamentarian can challenge them. “So the court has no right to fix the powers of the parliament,” Sajjad asserted. Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja countered this point by saying that Article 68 of the Constitution does not allow any legislator to discuss the conduct of the judges. “So they (parliamentarians) have no right to amend the clause in the Constitution concerning the appointment of judges,” he returned.

He said that the PCCR has been made superior to the parliament and it does not match with our judicial system.

Justice Ramday interjected that the decision on the procedure of judges’ appointment was given in a matter of one day, superseding the 150-year-old method altogether.

“…the procedure for appointment of judges was not even discussed for nine hours as stipulated in the Constitution,” he pursued, adding that “political decisions are different from judicial pronouncements”.

During the course of proceedings, Justice Mian Shakirullah said that it was very dangerous to give discriminatory (veto) power to the PCCR in which even it (PCCR) can strike down the recommendations of Chief Justice of Pakistan.”

Waseem Sajjad, while concluding his arguments, said: “It was not the Parliament that formed the PCCR. Instead, the Constitution formed it,” Sajjad remarked.

The federation’s lawyer also informed the apex court that it was drafted in the “Charter of Democracy” that there will be a separate parliamentary committee for the appointment of judges in the superior judiciary. He contended that the elected parliamentarians must be given their due rights in amending the laws regarding the judges’ appointment.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 3^rd, 2010.

COMMENTS (7)

Shahjahan Bhatti | 14 years ago | Reply Judges, Generals, Bureaucrats and Politicians are throwing powdered chillies into the eyes of the people. People of the country are exposed to floods and earthquakes. What a confused mixture of odditties we are as a nation!

hakeem | 14 years ago | Reply federal shariat court alongwith its supreme shariat appellete bench strangulated judicial supermacy of supreme court, with change through L.F.O CJP almost lost say in appointment of provincial justices but none said a word why because these mock of heros dont have guts to look into eyes of real dictators...how strange parliamentarians cannot discuss conduct of judges but judges can discuss conduct nd also business of parliamentarians... no one can tell them how slow they are working no one can research on the issue that how many cases are pending before these judicial tyrants since decades nd if someone shows them their real faces this junta has comtempt of court to lash

VIEW MORE COMMENTS

Ashraf Ghani | 14 years ago | Reply These judges have completely disappointed the nation. The people supported them to strengthen democracry but they are bent upon destabilising the system. Actually, the nation made the mistake. The nation should have foreseen how the judges who took oath under PCO-1 would act if they were restored. We are living under judicial tyranny.

Sultan Ahmed. | 14 years ago | Reply The apex court has power to review the enactment. Parliamentarian who belong to different political parties can not show impartiality,works for their particular interests. As for as appointment or nomination of the judges is concerned.the process must be clean it must not be politicize. if you avoid the clean process ,it mean you are making the way for new dictator.

Muhammad Kashif | 14 years ago | Reply Indian High Court Summoned their Chief of Army Staff, They have Mittals,Ambanis and Dr. Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister.What do have in character and leadership as a nation.

John Donne | 14 years ago | Reply I like this article. I wish we had better sense to realize that this one is 'people's dictatorship'. The Quied'e Awam had rightly claimed his rule as 'people's dictatorship.' Let his followers rejoice that he has incarnated himself in order to fulfil the task which had been interrupted by his 'Crucifixion.' As the second coming of Christ had been predicted to save this world of awful people, so is this one to save Pakistanis. I wonder why the Chief Justice is making hullabaloo at all.

Rana Umair | 14 years ago | Reply These judges were backed by the entire nation to get restored and provide justice to the people - the people who have lost their loved ones to the agencies. They were restored to assure that no military dictator sees the way to politics while in uniform. They were restored to make sure that politicians and the bureaucracy do not abuse powers. They were not sent to the high seats to act as the army brass orders them to act. They were not restored to focus entirely and solely on issues that a common man does not care about! History will never forgive these judges for not using an opportunity that the entire nation gifted them with.

Replying to X