ISLAMABAD: Around 90 per cent of the complaints filed against the judges of superior judiciary had become outdated because the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) had been inactive for the past few years.

Addressing a lawyers’ enrolment ceremony at the Islamabad Bar Council (IBC), Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali said that the vast majority of references — filed against the conduct of the judges of the superior courts under Article 209 of the constitution — had become infructuous since most of those judges had retired after completing their terms in office.

Under Article 209, the SJC may initiate proceedings on a reference against any judge on account of misconduct.

According to the article, after proceedings, the SJC “reports to the president that it is of the opinion that the judge is incapable of performing the duties of his office or has been guilty of misconduct and that he (judge) should be removed from office”.

PBC approves proposal to allow lawyers to practise before Supreme Court after 7 years of high court practice

Justice Jamali, however, said that the remaining 10 per cent were “in the pipeline” and the SJC would contemplate invoking Article 209 over these complaints.

He assured lawyers that the SJC would take up the remaining references with the utmost sincerity to redress the grievances of the public.

“[Judges] may be disassociated from the sacred profession of justice if found guilty of misconduct,” the CJP warned.

He said that in the past, the judiciary had made some mistakes and as a consequence, both bench and bar were facing problems today.

Earlier, IBC Vice Chairman Mohammad Shoaib Shaheen had asked CJP Jamali to take up references pending against judges before the SJC.

He said that a number of judges had retired without facing SJC proceedings. “Hence, filing references against judges has become a futile exercise,” he added.

It was in 2007 when the SJC last took up a reference against then chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. Justice Chaudhry, however, filed a petition before a Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday. The Ramday bench quashed the SJC’s proceedings, after which the SJC never touched a reference against any judge.

Last year, the SJC took up a reference against former Auditor General of Pakistan Akhtar Buland Rana, who was not a judge, but was a government officer on a constitutional post.

Lawyers welcomed the CJP’s announcement of invoking Article 209 against judges.

Former Pakistan Bar Council vice chairman Mohammad Ramzan Chaudhry told Dawn that after the Justice Ramaday verdict, Article 209 had virtually become redundant.

It had set a wrong precedent that the SJC proceedings were challengeable, he said.

It was in 2013 when the PBC, through a resolution, urged the Supreme Court to invoke Article 209, but to no avail, he said.

Senior IHC lawyer Rana Abid Nazir Khan said that lawyers and litigants were fed up of filing of references against the judges since it seemed a futile exercise.

Since the SJC was dormant and there was no forum of accountability for judges, one had to face the wrath of the judge after filing a reference against him or her, he said.

The CJP also said that the PBC had approved a proposal for extending relaxation to lawyers for practicing in the Supreme Court, which would be sent to the apex court.

He said that the lawyers, instead of requiring 10 years of prior practice, would be eligible to practice in the Supreme Court after 7 years of practice at the high court.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2015

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