LAHORE, Sept 7: The Acting Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr Justice Munir A. Sheikh, says the Supreme Court has not prohibited appointment of a junior judge as chief justice of a superior court in its 1997 Judges Case.

Talking to reporters informally after taking oath as acting chief justice at the Supreme Court Branch here on Saturday, he observed that the principle of seniority was applicable for the appointment of chief justice of a superior court and it was necessary to record reasons in case a senior judge was neglected and a junior was elevated to the position of CJ.

Seniority was not necessary for the appointment of judges of the superior courts other than the CJs.

When asked about the elevation of Justice Iftikhar Husain Chaudhry as chief justice of the Lahore High Court despite not being the senior-most judge, he said the question could be answered only by going through the relevant record.

When it was pointed out to him that Justice Fakhar-un-Nisa of the Lahore High Court had said that she would not remain silent on the elevation of a judge junior to her as chief justice of the LHC, he said if the right of the judge had been violated she could approach the proper forum for the redressal of her grievance.

Answering a question about the appointment of an ad-hoc judge to the Supreme Court despite availability of the sanctioned strength, he said the need for an ad-hoc judge had been felt in view of a large number of pending cases. Asked if more ad-hoc judges could be appointed to the Supreme Court, he said the Chief Justice would take a decision about it.

Recalling his past, he said the late Maulvi Mushtaq Hussain had proposed his name for appointment of a judge of the high court during his tenure as Chief Justice in 1978. But the then Advocate General, Punjab, Amer Raza Khan, was appointed the judge in his place. But all those appointed high court judges in 1978 were relieved during the oath-taking under the Provisional Constitutional Order.

Asked about sitting of Justice Falak Sher with Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar, his junior judge in the Lahore High Court, in a division bench at Supreme Court, he said that there was no concept of seniority in the Supreme Court because it did not have an administrative committee like the high court. The full court decides all the matters in the Supreme Court.

Earlier, Justice Tanvir Ahmed Khan, the next senior-most judge of the Supreme Court available in Lahore, administered oath to Justice Munir A. Sheikh as the Acting Chief Justice of Pakistan under the PCO. He will act as Chief Justice during the period Mr Justice Sheikh Riaz Ahmed, Chief Justice of Pakistan, performs the functions of the President of Pakistan.

Later Justice Munir A.Sheikh administered oath of office to Justice Falak Sher, former Chief Justice of Lahore High Court, as judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and Justice Karamat Nazir Bhandari, former judge of the Lahore High Court, as an ad-hoc Judge of the Supreme Court.