THE recent appointment of a bureaucrat, an officer from Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS)/DMG, on the post of registrar of the Supreme Court is against the principle of separation of the executive from the judiciary.

In high courts, a serving district and sessions judge is posted as registrar. This ensures independence of the court’s administration from the executive organ of the state. The predecessor of the newly-appointed registrar, Dr Faqeer Hussain, was not a bureaucrat but he earned a very good reputation for having upheld the dignity of this office. In the past, the office of the registrar of the Supreme Court has been held by eminent lawyers and judges such as Justice Syed Sajjad Ali Shah.

Another aspect of this posting is that the PAS, as a service group, is involved in a number of cases filed against them by other service groups. Some petitions of Provincial Service Groups are pending in the Supreme Court since 2010. It is believed that various tactics have been and are being employed by PAS officers to delay the proceedings of the said cases.

The recent appointment of registrar from the same service has further diminished the hope of early disposal of these appeals and has increased disappointment of the officers of other service groups, as well as of the provincial officers.

It is a well-established principle that justice must not only be done but be seen to be done. In view of the above, I request the Chief Justice of Pakistan that an independent individual should be appointed as registrar of the apex court instead of a career bureaucrat who happens to be a party in a number of cases pending in the court.

Azhar Abbass

Kamalia, Toba Tek Singh