Treasury members okay name for new LHC CJ after a whiff of dissent

ISLAMABAD: After some opposition in the beginning from the government side, Parliamentary Committee on Appointment of Judges Tuesday finally endorsed the recommendation of Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) for the elevation of Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan as next Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court (LHC).

Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi may now be moved to the Supreme Court of Pakistan who becomes the senior most judge after Justice Qasim’s elevation. A position is vacant in Supreme Court after the retirement of Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, former CJP. Incidentally, Justice Khosa together with Justice Saqib Nisar were elevated to SC in 2010 when the then-Chief Justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, wanted to retain Khawaja Sharif as CJ LHC notwithstanding the opposition from the then-government of the Pakistan People’s Party.

Insiders of the meeting say that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers initially put up resistance to the nomination of the LHC CJ-designate, saying the committee must exercise caution in reaching some decision about a key judicial position, however, the opposition members prevailed during the course of proceeding that culminated at the endorsement of JCP’s recommendation.

In the maiden meeting held on this matter, the government members wanted Justice Qasim Khan be summoned before the committee for interview with an intended purpose to judge his candidature for the position he is going to be elevated. The opposition countered this proposal on the ground that such steps are taken at the time of appointment of new judges. In a first, this exercise was carried out in December last year when the committee was to approve three names that JCP recommended for the vacant slot of judges in the Islamabad High Court. All of them were cleared.

That the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has not submitted its report about the LHC CJ-designate was yet another objection raised by the treasury members. That point was also dismissed by the opposition members who said non-submission of report doesn’t necessarily mean that Justice Qasim is disqualified for the new role. Also, the fact remains, opposition members argued, that the agency is aware of the deliberation on this matter. It could have given input had there been anything adverse thing thus no-report means no-objection, the opposition argued. Finally, the committee endorsed JCP’s recommendation on Tuesday.

Ali Muhammad Khan, state minister for parliamentary affairs, who's also head of the committee on judges’ appointment, though confirmed the clearance of new LHC CJ name, he didn't offer any comment about objections initially raised by him and other treasury members. "Since it was an in-camera proceeding, I can't comment," he told The News in written response to questions sent to him.

The committee on judges has grown teeth of late through amending its rules of business the recommendation of judges sent to it by the JCP. It was reduced to the rubber stamp by former CJP Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry through a judicial order which held that JCP’s recommendation would stand approved if the committee couldn’t consider a name within 14 working days.

Through the amended rules, the committee has empowered itself by declaring that it will summon the JCP’s recommended candidates for interviews. Failing in appearance will result in the cancellation of the nomination of a judge. Nevertheless, the committee can’t reject the nominations approved by JCP unless it does so with three-fourth majority and offer recorded reasons for doing so, according to Article 175 (12) of the Constitution. Even in that case, the new nomination will come from the JCP which can send again the same name while addressing to the reasons provided by the committee.