PTI to move SJC against four LHC judges

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) is likely to file references with Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) against some judges of Lahore High Court (LHC) for misconduct as well as for failure to dispose of the cases well on time.

Supreme Judicial Council is comprised of the Chief Justice of Pakistan as chairman, two most senior Judges of the Supreme Court and two most senior Chief Justices of High Courts as members. According to the Constitution, a judge belonging to the superior judiciary could only be removed under Article 209 of the Constitution by the Supreme Judicial Council.

Article 209 says that if, after inquiring into the matter, the Council reports to the president that it is of the opinion that the judge is incapable of performing the duties or has been guilty of misconduct, the president may remove the judge from office.

Well-placed sources close to the circle within the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) confirmed to The News that the government is going to file references against four judges of Lahore High Court on charges of misconduct. “The charges of misconduct which are to be framed against judges in the references are in final stage and will be filed with the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) soon,” sources informed.

It is to recall that the Supreme Judicial Council headed by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa reportedly had already issued a show-cause notice to a Lahore High Court judge for slow progress in deciding cases which is in violation of Article 10 of the constitution. According to the article, a judge should take all steps to decide cases within the shortest time and make every effort to minimise the suffering of litigants by deciding cases expeditiously through proper, written judgments.

The Supreme Judicial Council, which in the past has been dormant, became fully active after former Chief Justice of Pakistan Anwar Zaheer Jamali gave special emphasis to the accountability process within the judiciary and even had directed the provincial chief justices to refer the cases of alleged misconduct of judges to the Supreme Judicial Council.

Recently President Arif Alvi has removed Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui as a judge of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) after the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) recommended his removal. The council had found Justice Siddiqui guilty of misconduct over a speech he delivered in July earlier this year before the Rawalpindi District Bar Association. “The council is unanimously of the opinion that in the matter of making his speech before the District Bar Association, Rawalpindi on (July 21) Mr. Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui had displayed conduct unbecoming of a judge of a high court and was, thus, guilty of misconduct and he is, therefore, liable to be removed from his office under Article 209(6) of the Constitution,” the council had ruled.

Similarly on April 9, Justice Muhammad Farrukh Irfan of Lahore High Court had resigned from his constitutional office citing he had been forced not to perform his functions in a free and fair manner. The Supreme Judicial Council was hearing a misconduct reference against Justice Farrukh after his name surfaced in the Panama Papers list of individuals with offshore companies. In 2017, the Supreme Judicial Council had issued him show cause notice.