ISLAMABAD, Nov 3: The People’s Party Parliamentarians on Friday approached the Commonwealth to probe the appointment of a new chief justice in Azad Kashmir who superseded his seniors and appealed for help in strengthening the rule of law in Pakistan.

The issue was brought to the notice of the Commonwealth in a letter sent to the group secretary-general Donald McKinnon by PPP Foreign Liaison Committee coordinator Munir Ahmad Khan, who is also deputy information secretary of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy.

“I write you to investigate the facts and to take such steps as you deem will help to strengthen the rule of law in a country which is on the edge of chaos according to an independent international observer,” Mr Khan said about the appointment of Justice Riaz Akhtar Chaudhry as the chief justice of the Azad Kashmir Supreme Court by superseding the senior-most judge of the court, Justice Manzoor Hussain Gillani.

Mr Khan said copies of the letter released in Islamabad were also sent to foreign diplomats based in the capital and that he had requested Mr McKinnon to circulate it among members of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group.

The letter said there was controversy over Justice Chaudhry’s role in last July’s elections in Azad Kashmir as the acting Chief Election Commissioner.

The supersession, the letter said, was being viewed in some circles as an attempt to tighten the grip over the judiciary. “It is apprehended that the seniority principle has been violated to prevent victims of state-sponsored persecution receiving protection from the superior judiciary.”