ISLAMABAD, Sept 1 Barrister Jahanzeb Rahim, a judge of the Peshawar High Court who had to leave his office after the Supreme Court declared the appointment of dozens of superior court judges like him as illegal, has sought a review of the 14-judge verdict of July 31.

In a petition moved by Advocate Naeem Bokhari, he has raised 70 legal questions.

“The petition is being filed without any qualm or concern for any pension or other allied benefits, to which the petitioner is or would be entitled by virtue of his service as a permanent judge of the PHC,” the petition said.

“Can a judicial verdict, howsoever historic it may be, accepted as valid and fair if it violates the two cardinal principles of natural justice, namely Audi Alteram Partem and Nemo Judex in Causa Sua?”

If the Supreme Court order was against PCO judges, then why 76 judges who had not taken oath under the PCO were sent home, he wondered, adding that such judges had not even been made party to the proceedings or issued notices.

“Should not the issue and actions arising out of the Nov 3, 2007 emergency be best left to parliament to decide, instead of being decided by the apex court itself,” the petition said.

Were the judges who handed down the July 31 verdict not acting as judges in their own cause in violation of a cardinal and fundamental principle of natural justice, it said.

Should not these judges have recused themselves from the proceedings in the light of paragraph 1 of Article IV of the Code of Conduct for judges which required a judge to decline resolutely to act in a case involving his own interest, it added.