Additional judges: Judicial huddle to discuss IHC appointments

IHC chief justice has proposed name of Athar Minallah for the post of IHC judge.

ISLAMABAD:

Chief Justice of Pakistan Tassaduq Hussain Jillani has convened a meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on May 28 to discuss the appointment of three additional judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), sources revealed to The Express Tribune.

Sources said that IHC Chief Justice Muhammad Anwar Kasi has initiated the name of renowned lawyer Athar Minallah for the post of IHC judge. Minallah is from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and was the spokesman for former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhy during the lawyers’ movement.

According to the IHC Act, 2010, the court will comprise one chief justice and six judges and they would be appointed from all provinces and Fata.

After the retirement of Justice Riaz Ahmad Khan last week, the post of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) judge is vacant, therefore, the name of Minallah has been initiated by the IHC chief justice.

Sources said the IHC chief justice has proposed two names – Mian Abdul Rauf and Anees Jillani – for one seat of high court judge, both from Islamabad city.  Similarly, the CJ has also initiated the name of Shair Shah Kasi and Tahir Shah from Balochistan, for one post of IHC judge.

They also said that a subcommittee, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Rahmat Hussain Jaferi, will meet on May 27 to shortlist two names from the four nominees.

Earlier, the CJP had summoned a meeting of the JCP on April 10 to discuss the appointment of two IHC judges. CJ Kasi had suggested the same four names for the appointment of two additional judges. Later, a three-member panel of the JCP’s subcommittee held a meeting for short-listing two names from the four nominees, however, the meeting was postponed at the eleventh hour.

The strength of the IHC has been reduced to three judges after the retirement of its senior-most judge Justice Riaz Ahmad Khan last week.

The total strength of the capital’s high court should be seven, but due to a shortage of judges, litigants are facing immense difficulties. There are over 13,000 cases pending in the court.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2014.