IHC judges case: President to file reference on judges’ appointment

SC adjourns hearing for a fortnight on reappointments of IHC judges following their retirement.

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges’ seniority case took a new twist on Friday   when the Supreme Court put off the hearing for a fortnight following a decision by the federation to file a presidential reference in the case.

Justice Khilji Arif Hussain was heading the four-member bench hearing petitions pertaining to the reappointment of Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui and Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi and appointment of a chief justice for the IHC.

Legal wizards indicated that the process may take a few weeks, as only three IHC judges will be available to hear more than 10,000 pending cases during this period.

Opposing the proposed presidential reference, the counsel for the petitioner, Akram Sheikh suggested the court transfer all pending cases from the IHC to the apex court to facilitate litigants. The court, however, turned down a request from Sheikh for interim relief.

On Thursday, the apex court asked Attorney General Irfan Qadir to seek the view of President Asif Ali Zardari regarding the legality of the judicial commission, if the most senior judge of the IHC, Justice Riaz Ahmad Khanwas, was not available and instead the most senior judge available, Justice Anwar Khan Kasi, attended the meeting in his place.

On Friday, AG Qadir submitted a written reply on behalf of the federal government. Qaidr told the court that he could not approach President Zardari due to the D-8 summit meeting. He said Law Minister Farooq H Naek instructed him that President Zardari intended to file a reference in order to obtain the advice of the SC on the complex constitutional and legal questions which had arisen with regard to the appointment of the chief justice of IHC, as well as the reappointment of Justice Qureshi and Justice Siddiqui. On completion of their one year tenure as additional judges, both Justice Qureshi and Justice Siddiqui retired on November 20.



“A reference under Article 186 of the Constitution is being prepared to settle all these issues in a transparent manner as per the letter and spirit of the Constitution,” AG Qadir said. On Thursday, the apex court declared that the composition of the judicial commission was in fact legal and could not be questioned by the president’s office to quash their service tenure extensions.

Advocate Sheikh criticised the reference, saying that it was a ruse to delay the outcome of the case and a statement was based on mala fide intentions.

Justice Khosa said the court would appoint amicus curiae (someone, not a party to a case, who volunteers to assist a court in deciding a matter) and would hear the opinion of AG Qadir and legal experts to decide on the presidential reference.

Speaking to journalists, AG Qadir said a new bench would be constituted once the presidential reference was filed on the issue. He added that those judges who were members of the judicial commission and the four-judge bench hearing the case could not sit on the bench to hear the reference.

In its written order, the apex court said if the reference was not filed within two weeks, then the case of reappointment of Justice Qureshi and Justice Siddiqui should be fixed before the bench for a regular hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 24^th, 2012.