Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali stated Saturday that 90 percent of the complaints pending before the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) under Article 209 have been disposed of due to their infructuous status. He was speaking on the occasion of awarding certificates to young lawyers in the Islamabad High Court as well as inaugurating the recently established Islamabad Bar Council building. Chief Justice Jamali further stated that the remaining 10 percent complaints would be decided on merit soon, saying a mechanism would be evolved so that in future complaints filed under Article 209 may be disposed of on merit.
Article 209 states that "if, on information from any source, the SJC or the President is of the opinion that a Judge of the Supreme Court or of a High Court, (a) may be incapable of properly performing the duties of his office by reason of physical or mental incapacity; or (b) may have been guilty of misconduct, the President shall direct the Council to or the Council may, on its own motion, inquire into the matter.
"If, after inquiring into the matter, the Council reports to the President that it is of the opinion, (a) that the Judge is incapable of performing the duties of his office or has been guilty of misconduct, and (b) that he should be removed from office, the President may remove the Judge from office". Chief Justice Jamali said that in response to Pakistan Bar Council's proposal the practice period for a lawyer to attain enrolment in the Supreme Court would be reduced from 10 to 7 years.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2015

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