GILGIT: Lawyers have opposed the induction of a chief judge into the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) supreme appellate court and requested the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take notice of the matter.

According a press release issued on Sunday, the lawyers termed the move a violation of the Supreme Court’s judgement regarding the status of GB.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, as chairman of the GB council, had recently approved a summary to appoint Arshad Hussain Shah as chief judge of GB supreme appellate court under the GB Order, 2018.

But a seven-member bench of the SC had suspended the GB Order, 2018 and directed the federal government to impose the GB Judicial Order, 2019. The SC had also ordered the government to appoint GB supreme appellate court judges through judicial commission rather than executive orders.

A meeting of the representatives of the GB supreme appellate court bar association, high court bar association and district bar association unanimously decided to resist the move and termed it a violation of the Supreme Court’s judgement and the Constitution of Pakistan. The lawyers decided to file a contempt of court case against appointment of the GB chief judge through an executive order.

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2019