Judges appointment case: Presidential reference filed in Supreme Court

Ministry of Law on behalf of President Asif Ali Zardari has filed a reference in the Supreme Court, seeking guidelines from the apex court over the procedures of the appointment of the judges in the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

Under Article 186 of the Constitution, the president may refer any question of public importance to the apex court on which he desires to seek opinion. The reference has raised 13 questions of public importance, seeking opinion of the apex court with a request to report its finding to the president.

One of the questions asked is whether the president, who has taken oath to protect, preserve and defend the Constitution, is obliged to make an appointment which, in his view, is not in accordance with the Constitution. Another appears to ask whether the Constitution prohibits individual member of the JC to initiate the names of judges for appointment to the superior courts.

The reference was signed by Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday. Advocate Meher Khan Malik filed the reference comprising 12 pages in the apex court on Friday. The government has also attached 19 other document with the reference.

On November 22, a case pertaining to extension in the tenure of two additional judges of the IHC had taken a new turn before the Supreme Court after the Attorney General of Pakistan Irfan Qadir had informed the court that the government wanted to file a presidential reference over the issue.

A four-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Khilji Arif granted a time of two weeks on November 23, 2012 as sought by Attorney General Irfan Qadir to file a presidential reference in the apex court over the issue.

On October 22, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan had recommended the permanent appointment of IHC’s additional judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui and a six-month extension in the tenure of IHC’s additional judge Noorul Haq N Qureshi.

The Parliamentary Committee for Appointment of Superior Courts judges on November 6 had also endorsed the recommendations of the Judicial Commission. The Law Ministry, however, had not issued a notification for extension in the tenure of these two judges and the matter was still pending before the Supreme Court for adjudication.

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Posted by Web Desk on Dec 7 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.