MUZAFFARABAD, Nov 25: The Council of Judges of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir High Court has informed the AJK government that the order of the Prime Minister, Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan, regarding the reinstatement of a grade 18 judicial officer could not be acted upon.
Sources told Dawn on Monday that a meeting of the council was called by Chief Justice Syed Manzoor Hussain Gillani on Thursday last to examine whether the prime minister was empowered to override any decision taken by the CJ regarding the employees of the subordinate judiciary.
The controversy arose after the CJ sacked Abdur Rahim Zubair Butt, judge of the family court, Bagh, under Section 1 of the Removal from Service (Special Powers) Act, 2001, on Aug 21 this year for ‘misconduct’ in the light of an inquiry conducted by a three-member committee comprising district and session judges.
Mr Butt filed a representation before the premier, who had set aside the CJ’s decision and reinstated him on Nov 2. The judge submitted his joining report in the High Court on Nov 4.
However, the CJ did not take any decision on the report and referred the matter to the Council of Judges for an ‘appropriate decision’ under the relevant laws, sources said.
The council, sources said, observed that according to Section 46 of the AJK Constitution the High Court was the superintending and controlling authority of all other courts, which were subordinate to it.
Apart from it, the council noted that the Special Powers Act also made it clear that the competent authority in relation to an employee of the court or tribunal functioning under the government was the appointing authority or the chairman or presiding officer of the court or the tribunal and not the prime minister. Therefore, the council unanimously held that the order passed by the CJ in his capacity as appointing authority was final, the sources added.
The council further said that as the prime minister was not the competent authority (in relation to a court employee), his order could not be acted upon and therefore the joining report of the judge was not acceptable, the sources maintained.
They said that the decision of the council was conveyed to the government through the law department on Monday.
The council meeting was presided over by the CJ and attended by Justice Reaz Akhtar Chaudhry, Justice Sardar Mohammed Nawaz Khan and Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal.