December 2, 2005	Friday	Shawwal 29, 1426

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LAHORE, Dec 1: Chief Justice Iftikhar Husain Chaudhry on Thursday expressed the hope that more judges would soon be appointed to fill in the vacancies in the Lahore High Court. Talking informally to reporters after administering oath to five of the eight judges confirmed by the president, the chief justice said he had already sent to the chief justice of Pakistan, for onward communication to the federal government, a list of persons for their appointment as LHC judges with his recommendation.

Earlier, the chief justice administered oath to justices Sheikh Javaid Sarfraz, Mohammad Jahangir Arshad, Fazle Miran Chauhan, Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Umar Ata Bandial at a ceremony held in the Judges Lounge of the LHC.

Asked if he thought that the LHC would ever function with a full strength of 50 judges, the chief justice said that it was the job of the government to fill in all the vacancies.

He declined to answer when asked why were justices Mohammad Nawaz Bhatti, Syed Shabbar Raza Razvi and Syed Hamid Ali Shah not confirmed. He said all issues could not be put to inquiry.

Asked why LHCBA president Fakharun Nisa Khokhar was not invited to the oath-taking ceremony, the chief justice said he had nothing to do with invitations as such matters were dealt by the high court protocol office which prepared the list of invitees.

The ceremony was attended by the LHC judges, Punjab Bar Council vice-chairman Chaudhry Asghar Ali Gill, Supreme Court Bar Association president Malik Mohammad Qayyum and LHCBA secretary Shehram Sarwar Chaudhry, besides a number of senior lawyers and Punjab government law officers. Extraordinary security arrangements were made for the event.

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