By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: After the retirement of five Supreme Court judges, there has been a noticeable delay in filling up their vacant positions, and this has resulted in eyebrows being raised the senior judges.
Two senior judges of the Supreme Court have asked the Chief Justice of Pakistan to hold a meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan for the appointment of judges and “avoid unwanted rumours of petty politics and lobbying”.
Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, an a letter, said a commission meeting should automatically be scheduled at the earliest in case of any vacancy in the apex court to fulfil the constitutional obligation under Article 175A(8) of the Constitution that states: “The commission by majority of its total membership shall nominate to the Parliamentary Committee one person, for each vacancy of a Judge in the Supreme Court, a High Court or the Federal Shariat Court, as the case may be.”
The judges said they had “time and time again requested” the Chief Justice to hold a commission meeting to fill the vacancies but their meetings with him on the subject “ended in vain” and any inordinate delay in this would be “unfortunate and undesirable”.
The first seat of the SC fell vacant after the retirement of former CJP Gulzar Ahmed on February 1 when Justice Bandial took over as the CJP. Justice Qazi Mohammad Amin stood retired on March 23, Justice Maqbool Baqir on April 4, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel on July 13 and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah on August 12.
“It is important to underline that delay in filling the vacancy gives rise to unwanted rumours of petty politics, lobbying and quid pro quo appointments, which not only undermines the institution but also seriously impairs the neutrality and the transparency of the appointment process,” the letter said.
It is worth mentioning that the commission on its July 28 meeting rejected five nominations of the Chief Justice by a majority of five to four votes.
“The ordinate delay of almost nine months in this case must be urgently addressed first.”
The judges had already suggested that the five high court chief justices should be considered for the vacant positions or consider the top two judges from each high court and then conduct a vote in the next JCP meeting.
The letter said the above were the best options for moving forward until more sophisticated selection criteria and constitutionally compliant rules could be framed.
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