Judicial appointments: Lawyers of G-B’s apex court to boycott duties over judges’ elevation

The lawyers will boycott courts till March 20 and lay siege to the offices of CM if their demands aren’t met by then.

GILGIT:

Lawyers of the Supreme Appellate Court Bar Association (SACBA) have objected to the appointments of the chief judge and the two subordinate judges inducted recently in the regional apex court, for being unconstitutional and against the norms of independent judiciary.

“We want Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary to take suo motu notice of the appointments for which we will shortly send a delegation to meet him,” Ehsan Ali, a senior lawyer told The Express Tribune on Saturday.

“In a meeting chaired by the president SACBA, Mirza Ali, the lawyers were unanimous in their opposition to the appointment of Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) Chief Judge Justice Mohammad Irshad, and Justice Raja Jalaluddin and Justice Muzaffar Ali, he said. The appointments are a sheer violation of the constitution and against the norms of independent judiciary, he added.

The lawyers will boycott the courts till March 20 and lay siege to the offices of the chief minister if their demands aren’t met by then.

Last month, Justice Jalaluddin and Justice Ali, were elevated from G-B Chief Court to the Supreme Appellate Court, filling up posts lying vacant for over six months.



“A retired judge of the chief court is eligible to be a judge of the appellate court, but not a serving judge,” said another lawyer.

On the other hand, the High Court Bar Association has rejected the plea of SACBA. Its representatives have argued that the judicial system would collapse if judges from the chief court weren’t elevated to the superior judiciary.

They said if judges from the chief court weren’t considered for the apex court, they would not get their due promotions, affecting their chances of aspiring for seniority.

The SACBA was also opposed to the summary moved by the regional government to the federal government for appointments in the chief court, saying that appointments for vacant posts of judges should be made from amongst the lawyers, fulfilling the criteria laid down in the constitution.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 3^rd, 2013.