LAHORE: The appointment of Justice Ashraf Jahan Jamali, wife of Chief Justice of Pakistan Anwar Zaheer Jamali, as a judge of the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) has been challenged before the Lahore High Court for being ‘unconstitutional’.

A writ petition filed by three advocates — Maulvi Iqbal Haider, Fawad Masood and Sheikh Nasir — claims that rules and seniority of sessions judges were ignored when Justice Jamali, then a district and sessions judge, was initially appointed in 2013 as an additional judge of the Sindh High Court.

According to the petitioners, Justice Jamali was transferred to the Federal Shariat Court a few months after her appointment to the SHC without approval of the parliamentary committee for judges’ appointment.

They said that the President of Pakistan had on Sept 1, 2014, extended for one year the tenure of Justice Jamali as an additional judge of the SHC at a time when she was working at the FSC.

In October 2014, the petition said, Justice Jamali was repatriated to the SHC and was made a confirmed judge on Aug 26, 2015. She was again appointed as judge of the FSC on Aug 28, 2015 in violation of Article 203 of the Constitution, the petitioners said.

They argue that the procedure for appointment of judges to the Federal Shariat Court and high courts is different.

The petitioners urged the LHC to set aside the appointment of Justice Jamali as a judge of the FSC for being unconstitutional.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2016