ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court’s senior official, who had pointed out the illegal recruitments made in the IHC, endorsed by the Supreme Court on Monday in its landmark decision, was suspended and later sent on forced retirement for the same reason.
Ijaz Ahmed, the then Additional Registrar in the Islamabad High Court, had shown extraordinary courage by raising questions on these appointments in 2013 but instead of being appreciated, he was suspended and retired prematurely.
On Monday, the Supreme Court while deciding against these appointments in the IHC, observed, “Before parting with the judgment, we may observe that the Chief Justice Islamabad High Court and/or the Administration Committee of Islamabad High Court have made appointments in the Establishment in complete disregard of the mandate given by the Rules framed under Article 208 of the Constitution.”
The SC added, “If the competent authority itself starts cherry picking by deliberately ignoring and overlooking meritorious candidates in appointment exercising powers under Rule 26 of the Lahore High Court or Rule 16 of the Islamabad High Court, then the image of the institution will be tainted beyond repair. Such practice may lead to distrust of the public in the judicial institution of the country. We could not allow denial of justice to those candidates who merit appointment nor could we encourage anyone to bypass transparent process of recruitment provided under the Rules.”
It was the then Additional Registrar Ijaz Ahmad’s initiative when he moved a summary in May 2013 seeking internal audit and scrutiny of appointments made from 2011 onwards. Additionally, he had proposed that appointments made without advertisement and competitive process required to be reviewed in the lights of judgments of the Honorable Supreme Court reported in 1996 SCMR 1349.
Consequently, an audit was conducted by an officer of AGPR, who opined that none of the officials, including Mr Idrees Kasi (real brother of IHC Chief Justice), were appointed on merit since 2011.
Upon receiving the report from AGPR, the High Court Chief Justice placed Ijaz Ahmed under suspension on January 9, 2014, on the charges that he, while posted as Additional Registrar, had opposed the appointments and thereby had challenged the authority of the Chief Justice. Ijaz Ahmed remained under suspension for 20 months till August 2015, whereafter he was forced to retire on 20-08-2015. Under the rules and as per the Supreme Court judgment, suspension period should not go beyond three months.
The sole reason for Ijaz Ahmed’s forced suspension and retirement was that he had opposed the appointments made in violation of the rules. Ahmed challenged the forced retirement in the Islamabad High Court, which is still pending adjudication with the IHC Chief Justice since August 2015.
The appointments in IHC were challenged in the Supreme Court in 2014, and the apex court, in its judgment issued on Monday endorsed what Ijaz Ahmed had placed in 2013 and ordered the de-notification of the appointments made since 2011, including the appointment of Idrees Kasi.
Prima facie, the charge against Mr Ijaz Ahmed has been diluted as a result of the Supreme Court judgment. However, it is yet to be seen how long the IHC takes to decide his fate.
The SC in its order said, “We have noticed that the Chief Justice Islamabad High Court has exercised powers under Rule 26 of the Lahore High Court and under Rule 16 of the Islamabad High Court to alter the eligibility and qualification for appointment as well as promotion within the Establishment of Islamabad High Court. We hold that the Chief Justice has lost sight of the scheme of the Rules by appointing respondents and others in the Establishment of Islamabad High Court.”
