LHC judges: Settle seniority on basis of appointment date, says SC

Petition objects to status of 18 incumbent judges.

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition against the seniority of Lahore High Court (LHC) judges, declaring that the matter ought to be decided on the order and date of their appointment as additional judges of the court.

At present, the LHC determines judges’ seniority from the date of their appointment as additional judges. The petitioner also raised objection to the seniority of 18 incumbent LHC judges. The Express Tribune has learned that due to the court’s judgment, the seniority of Islamabad high Court judge Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui will be affected and Justice Noorul Haq Quraishi will be declared senior to him.

A five-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, heard a petition on Tuesday filed by a lawyer against the method for determining seniority of Lahore High Court (LHC) judges.

The petitioner, advocate Aslam Awan, contended that seniority of superior court judges should be determined from the date of their confirmation and not from the date of their appointment as additional judges. After hearing the arguments of the petitioner and the country’s Attorney General Salman Aslam Butt, the top court has declared that the seniority of high court judges shall be determined by the order and date of their appointment as additional judges. The bench further holds that the inter se seniority of additional judges of a high court appointed vide the same order and date shall reckon from their seniority in age.

“If appointment of two or more service candidates is simultaneously made with that of the candidates from the bar, the service judges shall retain their existing seniority in the department regardless of their age, though that would be the determining factor in respect of their seniority viz a viz the candidates from the bar. This principle has consistently been followed without exception ever since the establishment of the High Courts in Pakistan and is even otherwise in accord with the equitable dispensation of justice,” the short order further says.

The court has also observed that the reasons of the short order would be recorded in the detailed judgment.

It is to be noted that the IHC’s senior-most judge, Justice Riaz Ahmad Khan, is retiring on May 15. Due to this court’s judgment, Justice Noorul Haq Quraishi will be declared as the senior-most judge in the capital’s high court and he will also be appointed a member of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan on the appointment of judges.