ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission on Saturday deferred the issue of appointment of ad hoc judges in the Supreme Court and recommended one-year further extension to six additional judges of the Sindh High Court.
The Commission, which met here with Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in the chair, deferred the matter of re-appointment of Former Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday as an ad hoc judge for further one year and that of Former Justice Rehmat Hussain Jafferi for two years.
The re-appointment issue, according to sources, unlike the previous unanimous decisions, could not be sorted out due to difference of opinion among the members, especially the opposition of Dr Khalid Ranjha, representative of top lawyers' body, Pakistan Bar Council.
Earlier, speaking to newsmen, Dr Ranjha had said that both the Pakistan Bar Council and the Supreme Court Bar Association had already opposed ad-hocism in the judiciary.
Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday retired on February 17 after serving as ad hoc judge for one year while Justice Rehmat Hussain Jafferi had retired last year.
On February 14, a full court meeting passed a resolution seeking re-appointment of Justice Ramday and Justice Jaffery, as ad hoc judges under Article 182 of the Constitution for one and two years respectively.
The resolution drew flak from the lawyers bodies, including Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA). SCBA President Asma Jahangir and PBC Vice President Latif Afridi in their meeting with the Chief Justice of Pakistan on Friday, expressed their reservations over the resolution.
The Commission also took up the extension issue of nine additional judges of the Sindh High Court (SHC). It granted one-year extension to only six judges, including Justice Imam Bux Baloch, Justice Nisar Muhammad Sheikh, Justice Muhammad Tasneem, Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Salman Hamid and Justice Muhammad Mazhar. However, Justice Abdul Hadi Khoso, Justice Zahid Hamid and Justice Zakir Hussain were not given extension.
The recommendations will now be forwarded to a parliamentary committee headed by Senator Mian Raza Rabbani.
The commission meeting was attended by Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani and Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk of the apex Court, Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq, Minister for Law Dr Babar Awan, Pakistan Bar Council member Dr Khalid Ranjha and Justice (retd) Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry besides, Chief Justice Ejaz Ahmed Chaudhry of the Lahore High Court (LHC), Chief Justice Sindh High Court Mushir Alam, Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa.
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