IHC judges saga: Government likely to file reference today

Seeks apex court’s advice on whether the president can do more than just endorse judicial commission’s recommendations

ISLAMABAD:

The government is likely to file a reference, with the Supreme Court (SC) on Friday (today), raising legal questions over the procedure for appointing judges in superior courts.

Following formal approval by President Asif Ali Zardari, the government’s legal team will be set to file the reference, which seeks the court’s advice on around 13 questions posed under Article 186 of the Constitution.

The government had earlier sought two weeks time from the SC for filing the presidential reference, maintaining it needed legal opinion over issues pertaining to the appointments of Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges.

According to sources, the reference seeks clarification regarding the president’s powers in the appointment procedure for judges. It asks whether the president needs to only consider the judicial commission’s recommendations or simply endorse them.

The judicial commission had recommended a six-month extension for Justice Noorul Haq N Qureshi and the permanent appointment of Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui. Both judges retired on November 22 after their one-year stint as additional judges of the IHC expired.



The commission also recommended the elevation of IHC Chief Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman to the Supreme Court and the appointment of Justice Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi in his stead.

While the recommendations were endorsed by the parliamentary panel on appointment of judges earlier last month, the president did not issue any notification in this regard.

Sources said that the law ministry had reservations over these recommendations. It opined that Justice Riaz Ahmad Khan, being the senior-most IHC judge, should be appointed as chief justice instead of Kasi.



According to media reports, the president, in his reference, observed that the government determines the seniority of the judges.

The government is also likely to request that the bench not include any judges who are part of the judicial commission, which includes Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Meanwhile, a petitioner, through his counsel Akram Sheikh, filed another application requesting the court for an early hearing of the IHC judges case since the two weeks given to the government were about to end. The SC is likely to take the matter up next week.

The petitioner had earlier challenged ‘unnecessary delay’ on part of the president to issue notifications regarding appointments and elevations of some judges at Islamabad High Court (IHC).

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7^th, 2012.