ISLAMABAD, Jan 4: Federal Minister for Law and Justice Farooq H. Naek on Friday said that the notification for the appointment of two judges to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) would be issued soon.

Talking to the media after the inauguration of the Federal Court Complex (FCC) in Sector G-11, Mr Naek said that the Supreme Court has yet to decide on the presidential reference on the appointment of judges in the superior courts.

Since the Supreme Court has passed an order for notification of the appointments of the two IHC judges, the law ministry has sent the summary to the prime minister for approval.

In October 2012, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) had recommended the confirmation of service of IHC Additional Judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui and a six-month extension for Noorul Haq N. Qureshi.

In November 2012, the parliamentary committee on the appointment of judges endorsed the JCP recommendations.

However, the law ministry did not issue the notification because the president did not approve the summary for the appointment of IHC judges.

Later, Justices Siddiqui and Qureshi left the charge of their office on November 20, when the terms of their office expired.

A Karachi-based lawyer Nadeem Ahmed through his counsel Akram Sheikh moved the Supreme Court for issuance of the appointment notifications.

Inauguration of the Federal Court Complex

After inaugurating the FCC, Naek hoped that speedy justice would be delivered to the residents of Islamabad.

Eleven special courts will start working after the appointment of judges.

Their establishment had been announced earlier and they include an anti-terrorism court, banking court, special (FIA) court, drug court, control of narcotics substance (CNS) court, custom court, labour court and environment tribunal.

Former law minister Dr Babar Awan had laid the foundation stone of the FCC in September 2010.

The court complex has a covered area of 16,000 square metres and consists of 20 chambers for judges, bar rooms and judges’ lodges. The construction cost was Rs398 million.

The complex was completed in September 2012 but its inauguration had been delayed for unknown reasons.

Swiss cases

During the press meeting, Mr Naek also claimed that there is no case pending against President Asif Ali Zardari in Swiss or Pakistani courts.

He said that the Swiss attorney-general (AG) had terminated an investigation against Mr Zardari in 2007.

The decision of Swiss AG could be challenged within 10 days but the matter is time barred now.

He added that in pursuance of the order of the Supreme Court the government has written a letter to the Swiss authorities in connection with the investigation of the graft case but has not received a response as yet.

Responding to a question regarding the proposed long march of Dr Tahirul Qadri, Mr Naek said that the government is not afraid of any march but the people of Pakistan should distance themselves from any move which threatens democracy.