ISLAMABAD, May 27 The Supreme Court allowed the senior-most judge of the Azad Kashmir Supreme Court on Wednesday to submit an amended petition against the appointment of the incumbent chief justice of the court after deleting the AJK government and its officials from the challenge.

“We will not be issuing any direction against the AJK officials; rather whatever order is issued in the instant case will be against our own prime minister and the law ministry,” Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry observed.

The CJ is heading a three-judge bench hearing two identical petitions filed by senior members of the AJK judiciary.

The first petition filed by senior counsel Mohammad Akram Sheikh on behalf of Justice Syed Manzoor Hussain Gillani of the AJK Supreme Court sought an order against the appointment of what he called a junior judge as chief justice of the AJK Supreme Court. The other petition filed by Acting Chief Justice of the AJK High Court Sardar Mohammad Nawaz Khan sought his appointment on a permanent basis.

Justice Sardar Khan has been serving as Acting Chief Justice of the AJK High Court since Sept 2006 after elevation of Justice Riaz Akhtar Chaudhry to the AJK Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court allowed deletion from the original petition of three respondents -- the AJK government through its chief secretary, AJK department of law and justice and incumbent AJK Chief Justice Mohammad Riaz Akhtar Chaudhry -- thereby to implead the government of Pakistan and others as a party in the petition.In his petition, Justice Manzoor Gillani requested the court to ask the prime minister of Pakistan to issue a fresh advice for his appointment as chief justice of the AJK Supreme Court with a direction to the AJK president to act upon the advice instantly.

He said the government of Pakistan should also be asked to introduce an amendment on a one-time basis to the AJK Interim Constitution Act to deduct the period during which he remained deprived of his right to hold the office of AJK chief justice, from his age of superannuation.

Judges of the AJK Supreme Court and the high court are appointed by the AJK president on the binding advice of the prime minister of Pakistan who is chairman of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council.

Justice Manzoor Gillani was appointed as judge of the AJK high court on May 5, 1991, and its chief justice on May 4, 2001. He was made judge of the AJK Supreme Court in August 2004.

He argued that the Oct 20, 2006, appointment of the incumbent AJK chief justice, who was six years junior to him in the high court and two years in the AJK Supreme Court, had been made by ignoring his (Justice Gillani) seniority as settled by the constitution, past conventions and principles laid down by the superior courts of Pakistan.

Justice Manzoor Gillani went on long leave in protest against the appointment of the incumbent chief justice. He said he had made a number of representations to then prime minister Shaukat Aziz.