Appointment of judges: Either strengthen or scrap parliamentary panel, say senators

A special committee to tackle water scarcity was also approved in the meeting.

ISLAMABAD:

Decrying parliament’s exclusion from the procedure to appoint judges in the superior judiciary, members of the Senate on Monday urged either the strengthening of the parliamentary commission for such appointments or scrapping it altogether.

“Practically, it is only judges appointing judges. They never seriously consider the parliamentary committee’s recommendations on it,” said Senator Saeed Ghani of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in a debate on the issue.

Supported by other members from the opposition benches, Ghani said six out of nine members of the judicial commission for appointment of judges were judges and none of them was a political appointee.

The eight-member parliamentary commission has become almost dysfunctional, he added. The PPP senator said the 18th amendment had provided a detailed and agreed upon procedure for appointment of judges but the superior judiciary did not like it.



To appease the top judiciary, a 19th amendment in the constitution was made and the procedure was amended. “The parliament itself damaged its esteem by introducing the 19th amendment,” said the senator. He demanded that the “toothless” parliamentary commission be abolished if it could not be strengthened.

ANP senators were particularly critical of the “limited” role the parliamentary commission has been playing in the appointment of judges. Senator Haji Adeel, who is the acting president of ANP, said the parliamentary committee’s role has merely been that of a post office.

Senator Zahid Khan of the ANP urged both the government and the opposition to join hands to form a workable strategy. The senator was critical of the judicial panel, complaining that it acts unilaterally and appoints judges whose candidacy was at times opposed by the parliamentary committee.

Leader of the Opposition Raja Zafarul Haq, winding up the debate, said there was no conflict of interest between any institutions of the state. Stressing the government’s belief in transparency, Haq said a sub-committee with Senator Farooq H Naek in the chair was already working to devise a transparent method for appointment of judges.

Special committee on water

On the insistence of Senator Mohsin Leghari, the house debated the issue of water scarcity and unanimously decided to constitute a special committee.

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