PBC rules out SHC CJ’s elevation as SC judge

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Bar Council on Friday ruled out the possibility of considering Chief Justice Sindh High Court for his appointment as the Judge of the Supreme Court since he was facing charges of misconduct.

A statement issued by the newly-elected Vice-Chairman, Pakistan Bar Council, Hafeez-ur-Rehman Chaudhry, stated that although they were confident to follow the principle of seniority for elevation as judges of Supreme Court, supremacy of the Constitution, rule of law and independence of judiciary, they would not support any judge facing the charges of misconduct or poor performance, specifically the Chief Justice SHC, who through his registrar was facing serious allegations of appointments of para legal staff at certain districts in Sindh under his supervision, by way of Article 203 of the Constitution.

“Therefore, his case would not be considered for the appointment of Judge of Supreme Court

till disposal of pending petitions (No.6/2020 and No.8/2020) as well as interlinked references under Article 209 of the Constitution,” reads the statement.

Vice-Chairman PBC demanded that all pending references be decided on merit expeditiously and added that the act of Chief Justice Sindh was condemnable as on Jan 04, 2020, he had accommodated Rasheed A. Razvi, by sanctioning encashment for six-month leaves and re-fixing his date of retirement to Dec17, 2009 from the actual retirement date in 2000. Besides, Razvi continued his legal practice after retirement in the High Court of Sindh for about more than 20 years.