KARACHI: A day after the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) had ‘applauded’ Justice Omar Sial for ‘declining’ to become part of the constitutional bench of the Sindh High Court, an office-bearer of the Sindh Bar Council (SBC) stated that a judge cannot disagree with the decision of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP).

In a letter addressed to the chief justice of Pakistan who is also the chairman of the JCP, SBC’s executive committee chairman Yasir Arfat Shar said that the members of JCP may take appropriate step to ensure that its decisions are implemented in letter and spirit.

It said that Justice Sial, who was part of the nine-member constitutional bench of the SHC approved by the JCP with a majority vote on Nov 25 for a period of two months, wrote a letter to the head of constitutional bench of the SHC, Justice Muhammad Karim Khan Agha.

“Upon reviewing the content of the letter, it is to clarify that a judge is required to carry out the work assigned to him, and cannot disagree with the decision of the JCP (which is a commission constituted under the newly passed 26th Constitutional Amendment whose obedience is mandatory under Article 5 of the Constitution), and also especially given the fact that the decision was made with a majority vote. Let it be unequivocally stated that the decision rests with the JCP to make, and it is not for a judge to dispute or decide regarding his prerogative,” it added.

It may be recalled that on Nov 26, Justice Sial had recused himself from becoming part of the constitutional bench of SHC arguing that the JCP should have constituted the bench on a seniority basis as eight senior judges of the SHC were ignored/superseded while constituting the bench.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2024