ISLAMABAD: The legal fraternity Wednesday demanded the government legislate for regulating the exercise of jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, particularly ending the sole discretion of the chief justice of Pakistan relating to constitution of benches and fixation of cases.
The demand was made in a joint meeting of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), held here at the Supreme Court building, chaired by SCBA President Ahsan Bhoon and Pir Muhammad Masood Chishti, Chairman Executive PBC.
The meeting was attended by representatives of high court bar associations of all provinces, provincial bar councils and members/ nominees of bar councils to the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP).
The joint meeting was convened to consider the situation arising from the controversies of the independence of judiciary with regard to functioning of courts as well as appointment of judges to superior courts.
Later, the meeting passed resolutions demanding the federal government immediately do legislation in terms of articles 175(2) and 191 of the Constitution, regulating the manner of exercise of jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and, in particular, to end the sole discretion of the chief justice in relation to the constitution of benches, fixation of cases and initiation of suo motu proceedings and vest the same in a committee comprising five senior-most judges of the court.
The meeting resolved that the legal fraternity does not have any personal agenda; neither they are against anyone nor in favour of anyone, rather want strict adherence to the rule of law and principle of seniority. As such, nominations for the appointment of junior judges to the Supreme Court in violation of seniority principle were received with displeasure; hence, was disapproved by the House.
The meeting reiterated its long-standing demand for nearly a decade that the Judicial Commission of Pakistan immediately amend its rules to allow nominations for judicial appointments to be initiated by any member of the Judicial Commission rather than the chief justice alone (which is even otherwise violative of Article 175-A of the Constitution) and, moreover, to frame fair, transparent and objective criteria and procedures to gauge the suitability of prospective appointees.
Similarly, it resolved and demanded that amendments to Article 175-A and Article 209 of the Constitution should be made in order to unify the forum for appointment and removal of judges and to make it more inclusive and comprising equal representation of all stakeholders i.e. judges, bar, executive and the parliament.
Moreover, the house demanded that Article 184(3) of the Constitution be amended in order to provide one right of appeal. Besides it demanded the federal government to immediately withdraw the curative review filed against Justice Qazi Faez Isa, senior puisne judge, Supreme Court of Pakistan, as admittedly, it was wrongly filed.
Likewise, the house further resolved that the Supreme Court rules be amended to ensure that the review petitions are heard by a bench different from the original bench and allow the engagement of different counsel for the review petition. Later, in a press conference, SCBA President Ahsan Bhoon said that the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary was not a matter of election, adding that chief justice of Pakistan and members of the Judicial Commission should strictly adhere to the principle of seniority.
He said that appointing or nominating junior judges to the higher judiciary gives an impression that some judges were being ignored. He further said that the recent judgment of the Supreme Court on Punjab Assembly deputy speaker would be considered against the facts and law, adding that the opinion of eight judges in the SC judgment of 2015 could not be ignored
He said the letters of PTI Chairman Imran Khan and PMLQ President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to the members for voting are the same.
Meanwhile, Chaudhry Riasat Ali Gondal, Additional Secretary, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), lauded the verdict declaring Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi as the chief minister Punjab.
In a statement issued here, he said that our judges extend impartiality to all men, protection not only against wrongs committed by private persons, but also against the arbitrary acts of public authority.
He said that such bold and legally correct decisions enhance the nation’s pride, trust and confidence in the higher judiciary, adding that this judgment would serve as a glittering example for decades to come and would inspire other judges and lower judiciary to take decisions without any fear or favour. “The independence of the courts is, to all of us, the guarantee of freedom and equal rule of law,” Chaudhry Riasat quoted Winston Churchill.