December 30, 2008	Tuesday	Muharram 01,1430

KARACHI, Dec 29: The Sindh High Court Bar Association on Monday resolved to challenge the retention of three additional judges of the Sindh High Court, alleging that the government had violated the relevant Supreme Court ruling.

The resolution was adopted at a meeting of the SHCBA managing committee which was held at the Iftikhar Hall on the Sindh High Court premises under the chairmanship of its president Rasheed A. Razvi.

The resolution held that judges of the superior courts who were made non-functional on November 3, 2007 were constitutional judges of their respective courts and Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was the legal and constitutional Chief Justice of Pakistan.

“Therefore, consultation of Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry is a necessary pre-condition that requires mandatory fulfilment in the appointment of judges of all the superior courts, including the chief justices of the higher courts, as held in the cases of Al-Jihad Trust, Ghulam Hyder Lakho and Malik Asad Ali,” it recalled.

It alleged that the governemnt was bent upon subverting the principle of the independence of the judiciary and was attempting to pack the courts to achieve its political ends.

The resolution claimed that the recommendations of SHC chief justice had been ignored in matter of retention of Justice Bin Yamin, Justice Arshad Noor Khan and Justice Syed Pir Ali Shah as judges of the high court.

The meeting authorised SHCBA president Rasheed A. Razvi and Honorary Secretary Munirur Rehman to institute a constitutional petition in the Sindh High Court in this regard.—PPI