Chief Justice of Pakistan Umer Ata Bandial has been accused of neglecting the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa judiciary, as the top judge has not summoned the Judicial Commission of Pakistan’s meeting to finalise the nomination of the chief justice of Peshawar High Court, despite approval of Justice Musarrat Hilali’s appointment to the post. Hilali will be the first woman Chief Justice of the high court.
On Wednesday, President Dr Arif Alvi approved the appointment of Justice Musarrat Hilali as the Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court (PHC). Justice Hilali will act as the PHC chief justice from April 1 till the appointment of a regular chief justice on the recommendation of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP). However, the CJP has yet to summon a JCP meeting over the matter.
KP Bar Council’s nominated Member of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan Ahmad Farooq Khattak has written a letter to the CJP and demanded that a JCP meeting is convened immediately to consider the nomination of the new PHC CJ.
Full court reference in honor of CJ PHC is followed by strong worded letter to CJP from KP Bar Council’s nominated Member of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan Mr. Ahmad Farooq Khattak demanding immediate meeting of JCP to appoint Chief Justice Peshawar High Court. 👇 pic.twitter.com/glhexxbOMU
— Sangeen Khan (@SangeenKhan) March 30, 2023
In the letter, Khattak stated two senior judges of the high court were set to retire in March, including PHC Chief Justice Qaiser Rashid, and justice Roohul Amin Khan. Following this, Justice Musarrat Hilali was to be appointed as PHC CJ on acting charge basis. However, he regretted that the meeting for the appointment of the permanent PHC CJ is yet to be summoned by the CJP.
Khattak termed this a “serious neglect” towards the provincial judiciary.
He added that this was not an isolated incident as the same “injustice is meted out” to the judges of the PHC when it comes to their elevation to the Supreme Court. Khattak said this was not the first time these concerns were being raised.
Khattak urged the CJP to convene the meeting for the appointment of the permanent chief justice of the PHC as per the law.
