Reappointment of Ramday, Jafri deferred

A day after stiff resistance by lawyers' fraternity to end ad hoc system in judiciary, the Judicial Commission on Saturday deferred reappointment of Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday and Justice Rehmat Hussain Jafri as ad hoc judges, for indefinite period after no consensus among members.
The Commission, which met here with Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in the chair, took up extension issue of nine additional judges of SHC besides discussing another one-year extension to Justice Ramday and two years for Justice Rehmat Jafri. A member of the Commission, requesting anonymity told BR that reappointment of the said judges was deferred with no further time after lawyers' representatives called upon Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry to end ad hoc system in judiciary once and for all.
After resistance by representatives of Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and Supreme Bar Association (SCBA), he added, the Commission deferred a potentially confusing reappointment of Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday and Justice Rehmat Hussain Jafri as ad hoc judges in Supreme Court despite a full court meeting resolution. On February 14, a full court meeting had passed a resolution, seeking reappointment of Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday and Justice Rehmat Hussain Jafri as ad hoc judges under Article 182 of the Constitution for one and two years, respectively.
Justice Ramday's one-year extension expires on February 21, while Justice Jafri had reached superannuation on November 22 last year. The court's February 14 notification had stated that the two judges had accepted the proposal in 'wider institutional interest'.
The resolution had drawn flak from the lawyers' bodies across the country, including Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA). Besides, on February 17, the PBC had rejected the resolution, proposing reappointment of Justice Ramday and Justice Jafri, urging to eliminate ad hoc system in judiciary.
On Friday, February 18, SCBA President Asma Jahangir and PBC vice president Latif Afridi during a meeting with Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had expressed their reservations over the resolution. Meanwhile, the Commission recommended one-year extension to six SHC judges, which include Justice Imam Bux Baloch, Justice Nisar Muhammad Sheikh, Justice Muhammad Tasneem, Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Salman Hamid and Justice Muhammad Mazhar, while Justice Abdul Hadi Khoso, Justice Zahid Hamid and Justice Zakir Hussain were dropped. The recommendations made by the Commission will now be sent to a parliamentary committee headed by Senator Mian Raza Rabbani.