HC judges’ appointment matter may land in court | The Express Tribune

ISLAMABAD:

As President Asif Ali Zardari continues to withhold approval of the summary regarding the appointment of high court judges, the federal government is considering approaching the superior judiciary to seek a constitutional interpretation of the matter.

Sources told The Express Tribune that the government intends to seek a final resolution of the issue, contending that presidential approval is not a constitutional prerequisite for judicial appointments, as the Supreme Court had already clarified in its judgment on the 2013 presidential reference filed by then-president Asif Ali Zardari.

According to sources, the government wants a judicial declaration that if the president does not act on the summary within 48 hours, it should be deemed approved.

It is learnt that the next two days will be crucial in determining whether the president approves the summary.

Sources further revealed that the president has also withheld a separate summary regarding an increase in the salaries of SC judges.

The government has decided to bring the salaries of SC judges at par with those of judges of the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC).

However, that summary was initiated by the prime minister, and under the Constitution, the president may withhold it for the duration prescribed therein.

It is pertinent to note that the government side claims that the PPP leadership is unhappy with the JCP for not considering its nominees for high court judges.

JCP judicial members have already expressed a consensus on the working of the constitutional benches of the Sindh High Court (SHC), after giving the judges of the benches three months to deliver results.

Similarly, judicial members opposed the confirmation of Sindh High Court Additional Judge Syed Fiaz ul Hassan Shah, which is being considered another setback for the PPP.

The PPP leadership was particularly interested in securing the appointment of two of its nominees to the Sindh High Court (SHC). However, neither the judicial nor executive members of the commission supported their candidacies, as both nominees were below the age of 45.

Another government official said that both the executive and the judiciary were of the view that the commission should not approve any nominee under the age of 45.

PPP’s senior legal member and JCP member Senator Farooq H Naek proposed 33 candidates – 16 for the SHC, 10 for the LHC, five for the BHC and two for the IHC.

A commission member said that the PPP could have secured appointments for other candidates from interior Sindh, who were considered aligned with the party, had it not insisted on its two preferred nominees.

Last year, the PPP had managed to influence judicial appointments in several high courts, particularly the SHC, Peshawar High Court and LHC.

After the 27th Constitutional Amendment, Justice K K Agha was elevated to the newly established Federal Constitutional Court, while another SHC judge was transferred to the IHC.

The president may take a position on the matter within the next 48 hours.

After the ouster of the PTI-led government in Apirl 2022, the PML-N-PPP coalition introduced a series of constitutional amendments that increased the role of the executive in judicial appointments.

The two seccessive government led by the PML-N made sweeping changes in the structure of the country’s judiciary and paved the way for the formation of the Federal Constitutional Court whose judges are appointed through executive order.