Full court reference: SHC bids farewell to Justice Ghulam Sarwar Korai

Number of vacant posts in the Sindh High Court rises to 11.

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) bid farewell to Justice Ghulam Sarwar Korai on Thursday in a ceremony that also marked a decrease in the number of sitting judges to 29, against the sanctioned strength of 40.

A full court reference, presided over by SHC chief justice, Maqbool Baqar, was held at the court’s premises to pay tribute to the retiring judge. CJ Baqar highlighted the services rendered by Justice Korai as a member of the bench. He is set to retire today (April 4).

A professional lawyer, Justice Korai, was appointed by the then president, Asif Ali Zardari, as a permanent judge of the high court on September 25, 2009, following a series of litigations.

Earlier, the parliamentary committee on the appointment of the judges to superior courts had turned down two judges, including Korai, after they had been recommended by the judicial commission.

Disagreeing with the committee’s decision, the Sindh High Court Bar Association had challenged the matter in the high court, which allowed its petition and ordered the government appoint the two nominees.

Initially, the federal government had assailed the high court’s judgment before the Supreme Court, where the authorities did not appear despite repeated notices. Upholding the SHC verdict, the SC had ordered the law and justice ministry to issue a notification of his appointment as a permanent judge.

Achievements

During his four-and-a-half year tenure, Justice Korai heard several high-profile cases.

He had granted post-arrest bails to the owners of M/s Ali Enterprises, an ill-fated garment factory, where 259 workers had perished in an inferno in Baldia Town on September 11, 2012.

He has 778 judgments reported in the national law journals, while another 15 have been applied for reporting, according to the SHC official website.

No judicial work

Meanwhile, judicial work remained suspended at the Sindh High Court on Thursday over the demise of one of its former chief justices, Mamoon A Kazi.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4^th, 2014.