ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday gave his assent to the appointment of 19 additional judges for five high courts, along with confirmation of another five as permanent judges, ending a weeks-long deadlock between the Presidency and the government over the judicial appointments.
“The president has approved the appointment of additional judges in the Lahore High Court (LHC), Sindh High Court (SHC), Peshawar High Court (PHC), Islamabad High Court (IHC), and Balochistan High Court (BHC),” the Presidency said in a statement.
It added that he had also given his assent to the confirmation of certain additional judges of SHC and LHC as permanent judges.
The appointments of 19 additional judges and confirmations of five judges were pending since July 20 and July 21, when the JCP — the body responsible for appointing judges to the superior judiciary — recommended them.
The president gave his assent to the summary forwarded by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, which was based on the recommendations of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), official sources confirmed on Tuesday.
Later, the Ministry of Law and Justice also issued notifications notifying the approvals. The new 19 appointments were made for one year from the date of their oath.
The oath-taking ceremony for the judges had been scheduled for July 27 but was indefinitely postponed after President Zardari neither accorded assent to the summary nor returned it for reconsideration, with the government maintaining there was no legal justification for keeping it pending.
The president’s legal team had raised certain objections to the JCP proceedings, noting that nearly all nominees proposed by the PPP were rejected. They had also conveyed that some candidates recommended for appointment had criminal records.
The delay prompted the federal government to even consider bypassing the president’s approval by invoking Article 48(1) of the Constitution, arguing that he was required to act on the summary within a fortnight of its submission, sources said.
However, government functionaries later maintained that with the matter now sub judice, notifications could not be issued at this stage. Sources had said the government’s legal team planned to pursue an “out-of-court” settlement with its counterparts at the Presidency.
The approvals follow a positive meeting between the legal teams of the Presidency and the federal government, with sources privy to the development describing the matter as “on its way to resolution”. Another meeting between the two legal teams was expected to be held in the coming days.
The delay had created practical complications for the high courts. Four additional judges of the PHC whose confirmation had been recommended by the JCP ceased to hold office after their tenure expired on August 4 in the absence of formal notifications.
Similarly, the term of SHC’s Additional Judge Justice Khalid Hussain Shahani expired on July 29 upon the completion of his six-month extension.
To resolve these issues, the law ministry’s notifications said the four PHC additional judges’ appointments will be considered from the date of JCP’s recommendation (July 20). Similarly, Justice Shahani’s term was extended for six months from the date it expired.
The judges
Based on JCP’s recommendations, 10 additional judges were appointed to LHC, along with three each to IHC, SHC and BHC — amounting to a total of 19.
Moreover, five additional judges were made permanent and the tenure of an SHC additional judge was extended by six months.
A woman was among 10 nominees appointed as additional judges at the LHC.
They comprised advocates Shireen Imran, Amir Ajam Malik, Asad Ali Bajwa, Barrister Muhammad Usman Ghani Rashid Cheema, Ghulam Sarwar Nihung, Khalid Ibn-i-Aziz, Muhammad Ajmal Khan Zahid, Muhammad Amjad Pervaiz, Munawar Iqbal Duggal, and Syed Farhad Ali.
For SHC, Advocate Muhammad Humayon Khan, District and Sessions Judge Suresh Kumar, and Advocate Dr Shah Nawaz Memon were appointed as additional judges.
The term of Justice Shahani as an additional judge of the SHC was extended by six months.
For IHC, District and Sessions Judge Shahrukh Arjumand, Advocate Ayyaz Shaukat and Advocate Umair Majeed Malik were appointed as additional judges.
Meanwhile, district and sessions judges Allah Dad Roshan and Abdul Qayyum Lehri, as well as Advocate Muhammad Rauf Atta, were made additional judges of the BHC.
Those confirmed as permanent judges were four additional judges of the PHC — Justices Farah Jamshed, Inamullah Khan, Sabitullah Khan, and Aurangzeb — along with Additional Judge Justice Tariq Mehmood Bajwa of the LHC.
IHC requested to keep matter pending
The matter had also been sub judice before the IHC, where a plea challenging the delay in notifying the judicial appointments was filed last week.
On Tuesday, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir heard the petition, which was filed by advocate Luqman Zafar Chaudhary through his counsel Zahid Asif Chaudhry.
The IHC adjourned the proceedings after the counsel requested the court to keep the matter pending until the law ministry issues a formal notification.
On Monday, the IHC had issued notices to President Zardari, the federation and the attorney general and directed them to submit separate concise reports explaining the timeline and present status of the summary forwarded by PM Shehbaz concerning the judicial appointments.
The petitioner’s counsel had argued that Article 48(1) of the Constitution uses the expression “shall”, imposing a constitutional obligation on the president to act on the advice tendered by the prime minister.
The proviso to Article 48(1) permits the president to return the advice for reconsideration within 15 days, after which the president is required to act within 10 days on the advice tendered after reconsideration.
For its part, the Presidency’s legal team had contended that Article 175-A did not prescribe a specific timeframe for the president’s action and that the provision could not be overridden by Article 48(1) to bypass the Presidency.
They had also referred to Article 48(2), which empowered the president “to act in his discretion in respect of any matter in respect of which he is empowered by the Constitution to do so” and states that the validity of anything done by the president shall not be called into question on any ground whatsoever.
On the other hand, government sources had maintained that judicial appointments were governed by constitutional provisions and that any deadlock must be resolved strictly in accordance with the Constitution.
Other approvals
Apart from giving his nod to the judges’ appointments and confirmations, President Zardari also approved the equalisation of the salaries, allowances, and pensions of Supreme Court judges with those of judges of the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC).
Moreover, he approved amendments to the 1997 order relating to the leave, pensions, and privileges of high court judges, the Presidency said.
He also gave his assent to the appointment of Haroon Akhtar as advisor to the prime minister on industries and production.
