IHC judges case: SC adjourns contempt case against president

Court claims it was not aware of review petition filed against the Dec 21 order.

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court adjourned on Monday a contempt of court case against President Asif Ali Zardari till January 18, on Attorney General Irfan Qadir’s request.

On December 21, the apex court asked President Zardari to issue notifications regarding the appointment of Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui as a regular judge and Justice Noorul Haq N Qureshi as an additional judge for six months at the IHC as recommended by a Judicial Commission.

The federation sought a review of the court order last week, claiming that “the Constitution does not assign judges of superior courts the role of appointment or removal of brother judges”.

However, petitioner Advocate Nadeem Ahmad, through his counsel Akram Sheikh, filed a contempt of court application against President Zardari for not implementing the court’s order.

During Monday’s hearing, Sheikh said that by not implementing the court orders, President Zardari subverted the Constitution. He also cited examples from international jurisprudence in this regard.



Upon this, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain asked him about Islamic jurisprudence, to which Sheikh responded that there are examples in Islamic history that show that the Qazi’s decision is final and no authority can alter it.

Attorney General Qadir said that the government had filed a review petition against the court’s decision regarding the reappointment of IHC judges. However, Sheikh pointed out that ‘contemptuous’ and ‘scandalous’ language had been used in the review petition.

On the other hand, Justice Khilji said that the court was not aware of any such review petition.

Qadir sought some time to argue the case. The court accepted his request and adjourned the case till January 18.

President Zardari had earlier sought the apex court’s advice over his role in the process of judges’ appointments. The court had reserved its decision on the reference, directing, instead, President Zardari to issue notifications of the two IHC judges.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 15^th, 2013.