Constitutional amendment approved for appointment of SC judges based on seniority

ISLAMABAD: A meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Appointment Of Judges In Superior Courts on Tuesday unanimously approved constitutional amendments that support the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court in accordance with their seniority.

The meeting was held under the Chairmanship of Senator Farooq Hamid Naek at the Parliament House. 

The committee "unanimously approved the constitutional amendments in the relevant provision of the Constitution regarding judiciary proposed by the chairman of committee Senator Farooq H Naek", read a press release issued after the meeting.

The Committee decided that the appointment of the judges to the Supreme Court will be made in accordance with their seniority "which shall be determined with reference to their date of appointment as a judge of the high court and in case the dates of the appointments of the judges are the same then the decision will be made on the basis of their age", said the handout.

The committee decided that the ad-hoc or acting judges in the Supreme Court will be appointed subject to confirmation by the parliamentary committee.

The committee also approved an amendment in Clause 3 of Article 184 of the Constitution, according to which when suo motu powers in human rights cases are exercised by the Supreme Court, the case would be heard by three judges of the Supreme Court and an appeal against the order can be filed within 30 days, to be decided by a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court within 60 days. 

It was further decided that if an appeal against an order under this Article has been made, the order appealed against shall not be implemented, pending decision of the appeal.

The parliamentary committee also approved the recommendation that the age of retirement of a high court judge be enhanced from the existing 62 years to 65 years, as in the case of a judge of the Supreme Court.

The committee also approved an amendment in Article 209 of the Constitution proposed by the chairman, deciding that a reference on account of misconduct against a judge of the superior judiciary will be decided by the Supreme Judicial Council within 90 days.

It also discussed Article 175-A of the Constitution dealing with the manner of the appointment of the judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and composition of Supreme Judicial Council. 

It was decided that the issue will be further deliberated upon in the next meeting of the Committee.

The Committee also decided to invite the Federal Minister for Law and Justice in its next meeting.

The meeting was attended by Senators Azam Nazeer Tarar and Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti, MNAs Ali Muhammad Khan, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, and Rana Sana Ullah Khan; and Secretary Senate Mohammad Qasim Samad Khan.