Absence of judges to give govt breathing room
Experts say government will heave a sigh of relief as it has been struggling to cope with hard-to-contest cases.
ISLAMABAD:
The embattled Pakistan Peoples Party is likely to get a respite after some reduction in political temperatures – at least for the time being – and also on the judicial front as the Supreme Court is not likely to take up high-profile cases till the end of this year.
Legal experts said it will enable the government to heave a sigh of relief which has been struggling to cope with hard-to-contest cases for the past one-and-a-half years because high-profile cases cannot be fixed for hearing due to non-availability of a larger bench of the Supreme Court.
For example, they said, the NRO review case cannot be taken up because Justice Shakirullah Jan is in the United States. He is heading a delegation at a conference on laws of arbitration and other constitutional matters.
During the visit, they said, the five-member delegation will meet US Chief Justice John Roberts and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The conference will continue till November 13.
The lager bench was scheduled to take up important cases in the coming week on which the executive and the judiciary have been at loggerheads for the past 11 months.
“The Supreme Court may take up these cases by the end of this year because some judges will not be available due to their personal engagements,” said Sardar Latif Khosa, a government counsel in the NRO review case.
Talking to The Express Tribune Khosa said the apex court’s cause-list does not contain any mention of the NRO case.
“The review cannot be heard because a judge, who is a member of a larger bench, is unavailable,” he said, adding: “Because of the judges’ leaves, lawyers appearing on behalf of the state will get ample time to prepare their arguments.”
Meanwhile, Attorney-General Maulvi Anwarul Haq told The Express Tribune that as many as four apex court judges will be performing Hajj this year.
Justice Sair Ali and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday will leave for Saudi Arabia in the second week of November, he said. However, he added that he was not sure which other two judges would be going for the pilgrimage.
Ikram Chaudhry, a counsel in the NRO review case, agreed with Khosa’s assertions and said the case may even not be heard in December because of the judges’ leaves.
It is highly likely that the Supreme Court may take up the cases in the first week of January next year when all members of the larger bench will be available, he said.
However, top legal wizards agreed that the case of NRO implementation can be taken up by “even a five-member bench”.
But, they recalled that the NRO implementation case had been clubeed with the NRO review case by none other than Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry himself.
Meanwhile, Justice Rehmat Hussain Jaffery will be retiring on November 22, automatically affecting the larger bench.
The government would have to ensure fresh appointments of judges in superior courts within 30 days because it is clearly mentioned in the Al Jihad Trust case verdict, former deputy attorney-general Shah Khawar said.
Supreme Court Registrar Dr Faqir Hussain told The Express Tribune that the chief justice will forward a summary to the prime minister for fresh appointment two weeks before the retirement of an apex court judge.
“Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is likely to send his recommendations next week for fresh appointment in the Supreme Court,” he said.
However, he did not respond when if it was possible to grant an extension to Justice Jaffery as an ad hoc judge.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 31st, 2010.
The embattled Pakistan Peoples Party is likely to get a respite after some reduction in political temperatures – at least for the time being – and also on the judicial front as the Supreme Court is not likely to take up high-profile cases till the end of this year.
Legal experts said it will enable the government to heave a sigh of relief which has been struggling to cope with hard-to-contest cases for the past one-and-a-half years because high-profile cases cannot be fixed for hearing due to non-availability of a larger bench of the Supreme Court.
For example, they said, the NRO review case cannot be taken up because Justice Shakirullah Jan is in the United States. He is heading a delegation at a conference on laws of arbitration and other constitutional matters.
During the visit, they said, the five-member delegation will meet US Chief Justice John Roberts and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The conference will continue till November 13.
The lager bench was scheduled to take up important cases in the coming week on which the executive and the judiciary have been at loggerheads for the past 11 months.
“The Supreme Court may take up these cases by the end of this year because some judges will not be available due to their personal engagements,” said Sardar Latif Khosa, a government counsel in the NRO review case.
Talking to The Express Tribune Khosa said the apex court’s cause-list does not contain any mention of the NRO case.
“The review cannot be heard because a judge, who is a member of a larger bench, is unavailable,” he said, adding: “Because of the judges’ leaves, lawyers appearing on behalf of the state will get ample time to prepare their arguments.”
Meanwhile, Attorney-General Maulvi Anwarul Haq told The Express Tribune that as many as four apex court judges will be performing Hajj this year.
Justice Sair Ali and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday will leave for Saudi Arabia in the second week of November, he said. However, he added that he was not sure which other two judges would be going for the pilgrimage.
Ikram Chaudhry, a counsel in the NRO review case, agreed with Khosa’s assertions and said the case may even not be heard in December because of the judges’ leaves.
It is highly likely that the Supreme Court may take up the cases in the first week of January next year when all members of the larger bench will be available, he said.
However, top legal wizards agreed that the case of NRO implementation can be taken up by “even a five-member bench”.
But, they recalled that the NRO implementation case had been clubeed with the NRO review case by none other than Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry himself.
Meanwhile, Justice Rehmat Hussain Jaffery will be retiring on November 22, automatically affecting the larger bench.
The government would have to ensure fresh appointments of judges in superior courts within 30 days because it is clearly mentioned in the Al Jihad Trust case verdict, former deputy attorney-general Shah Khawar said.
Supreme Court Registrar Dr Faqir Hussain told The Express Tribune that the chief justice will forward a summary to the prime minister for fresh appointment two weeks before the retirement of an apex court judge.
“Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is likely to send his recommendations next week for fresh appointment in the Supreme Court,” he said.
However, he did not respond when if it was possible to grant an extension to Justice Jaffery as an ad hoc judge.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 31st, 2010.