Northern Areas High Court Bar Association (NAHCBA) has denied being a party in filing the petition against the appointments in NA chief court and asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the petition. A resolution in this regard was passed in a meeting of the NAHCBA held on Saturday chaired by President Sher Wali Khan and attended by the majority of members, including former chief Asad Bilal.
The NAHCBA members were ignorant of the petition filed by former secretary general of the Bar on behalf of the NAHCBA against the appointment of two Judges, Muzzaffar Ali and Sahib Khan, who were appointed as members in NAs chief court on April 13, 2004.
Mohammad Farooq Umer had pleaded in the petition filed on June 15 that both the appointees are ineligible.
The resolution said: "when it came into the knowledge of the members of the Bar that the Northern Areas High Court Bar Association is the filer of petition, they lodged a strong protest".
The NAHCBA members unanimously expressed resentment, stating the Bar body has neither filed any such petition, nor empowered anybody to file any such petition in the supreme court of Pakistan.
The Bar members also demanded that the petitioner should be served with a show-cause notice as to why disciplinary action should not be taken against him for act of gross mis-representation.
They also hailed the appointment of judges at NAs chief court, saying that it has been done purely on merit. The Bar members urged the Supreme Court of Pakistan to dismiss the petition.
Talking to Business Recorder, Asad Bilal said that the previous body of which Mohammad Umer Farooq was the office-bearer was dissolved on May 6 and the new body was formed on May 14 through election.
He said that he was unaware of the petition which was filed on behalf of the Bar, adding that former Secretary general breached the rules by filing the petition.
Asad said that the former secretary general has used the Bar merely for his vested interests, as his cousin was also a candidate for the membership at NA chief court.
He said that the NAHCBA members have unanimously passed a resolution dismissing their involvement in the case and said that Bar has sent the copies of the resolution to Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas, Attorney General of Pakistan, Chief Justice of Pakistan, Ministry of Law and Justice, Pakistan Law Commission, Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association and Pakistan Bar Council.