‘PBC not to attend oath taking ceremony of judge elevated to SC’

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Bar Council on Thursday announced that it would not attend oath-taking of Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, judge of the Sindh High Court, whose elevation to Supreme Court has recently been recommended by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP)

The council also resolved that bar associations and councils will not hold any reception for Justice Mushir Alam, (Member, Judicial Commission of Pakistan), who is presently going to retire. Addressing a press conference here at the Supreme Court, PBC vice-chairman Khushdil Khan along with ex-vice chairmen, including Abid Saqi and Syed Amjad Shah and others said that one of its members had brought to the notice of the council that Justice Mushir Alam, a senior judge of the Supreme Court and member Judicial Commission of Pakistan, has close relations with Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar.

He said that morally the learned judge should not have sat in the meeting of Judicial Commission. He said that the PBC had also decided to write to the parliamentary committee not to approve nomination of Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar on grounds of violation of the seniority principle.

He said the PBC also urged the Judicial Commission to urgently frame transparent and objective criteria for the appointment of judges to all courts and should consistently follow the same.

The PBC vice-chairman said that the Pakistan Bar Council would also recommend the Supreme Judiciary to initiate proceedings before the Supreme Judicial Council against all judges who are found to be unfit for elevation to the Supreme Court on grounds of incompetency, integrity and misconduct. Once found unfit for elevation, the judge would be equally unfit to serve at the high court.

It was also recommended in the PBC meeting that the cases pending with the Supreme Judicial Council should be taken up expeditiously on a day-to-day basis and decisions thereof should be sent to the bar councils, he said To a question as to whether the Bar Council is doing politics in the garb of rule of law, generating support for the upcoming elections of the Supreme Court Bar Association and opposing the elevation of a junior judge to Supreme Court, Mr Khusdil said that all lawyers groups were against the elevation of the said judge to the Supreme Court. When asked why it did not earlier oppose the elevation of two judges to Supreme Court and now as the elections are nearing, they were making a hue and cry, he said the PBC did raise its voice at that time. He said that the PBC would also request parliament and all political parties to repeal the 19th Amendment, as it has made judiciary unaccountable.