PESHAWAR: A Peshawar High Court bench on Wednesday turned down the federal government’s plea to declare non-maintainable a petition of senior lawyer Mohammad Tariq Afridi against the rejection of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan’s recommendation for his appointment as the court’s additional judge.

Additional attorney general Qazi Babar Irshad had requested Justice Lal Jan Khattak and Justice Mussarat Hilali to dismiss the petition saying since the JCP and the Parliamentary Committee, which rejected the commission’s recommendation, met in Islamabad, the high court didn’t have the jurisdiction to hear the matter.

However, Qazi Mohammad Anwar and Abdul Samad Khan, counsel for the petitioner, insisted that the matter was related to the high court, so it was maintainable.

The bench ruled in favour of the petition’s maintainability and declared that the petition would be decided on merit.

It later adjourned hearing into the case observing that arguments should be advanced on merit on the next hearing.

The petitioner has requested the high court to declare unconstitutional and void the July 8 decision of the Parliamentary Committee to reject the JCP’s recommendation for his appointment as a judge.

He requested the court to ask the federal government to accept the JCP’s that recommendation and send his name to the president for appointment as the PHC’s additional judge for one year. The respondents in the petition are the Parliamentary Committee and the law and justice ministry. Additional attorney general Qazi Babar Irshad insisted that the petition was not maintainable as the petitioner’s name was dropped by the Parliamentary Committee in Islamabad.

He added that the petition should have been filed with the Islamabad High Court.

Mr Irshad said when former IHC additional judge Azeem Khan Afridi was not confirmed as the high court judge, he had filed petition with that high court and not Peshawar’s.

Lawyers Qazi Anwar and Abdul Samad said their client, a member of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council as well as the Peshawar High Court Bar Association, was recommended by the Judicial Commission for appointment to the PHC.

Referring to a Lahore High Court judgement, they said that court had heard a petition on an almost identical matter regarding the appointment of the additional judge for that court.

Qazi Mohammad Anwar contended that the Parliamentary Committee constituted under Clause 9 of Article 175-A of the Constitution couldn’t act as an appellate forum over the recommendations of the Judicial Commission in respect of competency, calibre and integrity of an advocate of the Supreme Court.

He insisted that the Parliamentary Committee had no powers to veto the decision of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2019