Appointment of judges: JCP decision be released publicly: Justice Isa

ISLAMABAD: Justice Qazi Faez Isa on Thursday stressed that Judicial Commission of Pakistan’s (JCP) decisions made on appointment of judges be released publicly.

In a letter written to the Chief Justice/Chairman JCP Umar Ata Bandial, and the members of the Commission, Justice Isa said that the JCP met today (Thursday) to consider the five nominees recommended by the chief justice.

“After a detailed discussion the majority of the members of the JCP, that is Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Attorney-General Ashtar Ausaf Ali, representative of the Pakistan Bar Council the Akhtar Hussain and myself decided to reject the nominations of the three junior judges of the Sindh High Court and one junior judge of the Lahore High Court,” said the letter.

However, Justice Faez wrote that on the elevation of chief justice of the Peshawar High Court to the apex court, the body decided that as he was not the senior-most judge therefore his name may be considered when placed alongside those of his peers, that is, with the Chief Justices of the other High Courts and senior-most judges, with the provision of comparable data”.

“It was also decided that the Constitution did not permit appointments to ‘anticipated’ vacancies,” wrote senior puisne judge of the apex court.

However, the Justice Faez stated that Justice Bandial “did not dictate the decisions that were taken, and left the meeting quite abruptly, followed by Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan”.

He added that after the chairman’s departure, it was left to the temporarily appointed acting secretary to draw up the minutes of the decisions that were taken, adding that this was his first time doing so.

“The eyes of the nation are transfixed on the JCP and they have a constitutional right to know what was decided. Therefore, the acting secretary should immediately release this decision to the media, which will also stem unnecessary speculation and misreporting as the meeting was held behind closed doors. It is expected that the detailed minutes will accurately reflect all that transpired,” said Justice Faez.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022