LAHORE: Former president of Supreme Court Bar Association Hamid Khan and other leaders of lawyers’ professional group on Monday strongly opposed the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) move to ignore seniority policy in elevating judges to the apex court.

Speaking at a press conference, Khan regretted that chief justices of the high courts were being ignored by the JCP and the Supreme Court was being filled with junior judges on personal preferences.

He pointed out that ignoring Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah for the elevation was an injustice not only with the judge but Islamabad as well. He said elevation of judges against the policy of seniority would weaken the institution of judiciary.

He said the JCP also subjected the chief justice and senior judges of the Sindh High Court to discrimination in the elevation to the SC.

See discrimination in elevation of judges; Hamid Khan says ignoring Justice Minallah an injustice

Khan said the country was facing a political turmoil and there were summer vacations in the SC and three high courts. He recommended the JCP to defer the elevation of the judges till the end of summer vacations and return of senior puisne judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa from ex Pakistan leave.

Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf, another member of the JCP, is also abroad.

Commenting on a demand of PDM parties to form a full court to hear a case about the election of chief minister of Punjab, the senior lawyer said it was a prerogative of the chief justice whether to constitute a full court or not.

However, he said, the political parties should not pressurize the judiciary. He further said that the bodies of lawyers should not become a mouthpiece of any political party.

Other leaders of the professional group included Mian Abdul Qaddus, Rana Zia Abdul Rehman, Rabboya Bajwa, Asad Manzoor Butt and Shamimur Rehman Malik

The JCP is set to meet on July 28 to consider elevation of judges from different high courts.

Last time, the JCP met on June 28, a day after Justice Isa’s three-page letter in which the senior puisine judge had taken exception to the calling of the meeting with a suggestion that it should be postponed until the scheduled vacations of the court were over.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2022