- Hamid Khan says that newly appointed judges should go.
- Adds no consensus throughout the appointment process.
- “Matter should not be understood by the constitutional bench but by a complete court.”
Pakistan senator Tehreek-e-insaf (PTI) and Senior Lawyer Hamid Khan said on Monday that the lawyer’s community would dispute the appointments of six judges to the Supreme Court by the Pakistan Judicial Commission (JCP) at the Supreme Court, walking to continue the “protest movement”.
“The appointment has no legitimacy because two superior judges and opposition legislators left the meeting … They (the newly nominated SC judges) should go,” said the main lawyer speaking from the Geo News ‘AAJ Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’ program.
His remarks occurred a few hours after the Judicial Commission appointed six judges of the High Court for an elevation at the Supreme Court. The main judges of all high lessons, with the exception of the High Court of Lahore (LHC) were among the six judges appointed.
These include judge Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, judge Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui, judge Salahuddin Panhwar, judge Ishtiaq Ibrahim, judge Shakeel Ahmad and judge Aamer Farooq.
The commission, also by majority of its total members, appointed judge Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb of the IHC for his appointment as an acting judge of the Supreme Court.
The meeting of the JCP came in the middle of the opposition expressed by four judges of the Supreme Court and the former part in power, following the recent transfer of judges to the High Court of Islamabad (CIH).
Speaking during today’s program, Hamid said that there was no consensus throughout the appointment process, which called them a “unilateral selection”.
“Immediately, it may not be possible, but our struggle will be long. We will continue to oppose today’s appointment because there was only one post … how could You fill seven or eight (vacancies), “he said.
He declared this while answering a question about what would be the next decision of the lawyers against the appointments of the SC judges.
Answering another question, the PTI senator said that the case should not be heard by a constitutional bench but by a full court, as is their request for the 26th constitutional amendment.
“The case is linked to the appointment of SC judges … It is not linked to the training of the Constitutional Court.”
In addition, he said, people who abuse their powers and challenge the rule of law do not last long. “Our struggle can last six months or a year, the situation in the Supreme Court and other high lessons, is not achievable.”
When asked if the full court would also include newly appointed judges, Hamid replied that he could not be part of the bench because their “appointment would be disputed”.
“They cannot be judges in their own cause,” he said. Likewise, the question cannot be understood by a constitutional bench, he added.
Judges transfer saga
Earlier this month, the Judicial Commission asked for candidates for all the high lessons, requesting a list of five superior judges of each.
The High Court of Islamabad (IHC) initially transmitted the names of three judges – the chief judge Aamer Farooq, judge Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and judge Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb – because the other two judges, judge Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri and Judge Babar Sattar did not meet a minimum requirement of five years of service.
However, the judge of the High Court of Lahore, Sarfraz Dogar, as well as two judges of the SHC and the BHC, were recently transferred to the IHC. After its transfer, the IHC administration revised its seniority list and appointed it as the main judge. Therefore, his name was also sent to the JCP.
After this transfer saga, five IHC judges raised the question of the seniority of the judges and sent a representation to the chief of the IHC against the new seniority list and also sent a copy to CJP Afridi .
The judges argued that any transferred judge had to take an oath under article 194 of the Constitution, which would place them at the bottom of the IHC seniority list. This would make them ineligible for immediate consideration for the position of the IHC chief judge.