Lawyers protest over 'principle of seniority being disregarded' in appointment of SC judges

• Protesting bar councils and associations maintain that the "principle of seniority was disregarded" in appointment of apex court judges.
• Large police contingent, LEA personnel stationed outside SC in order to keep the situation in control.
• Lawyers in Lahore and Sindh boycott hearings as a part of the protest.

ISLAMABAD: Members of various lawyers associations protested the appointment of junior judges to the Supreme Court (SC), outside the apex court’s building on Thursday.

The protesting bar councils and associations maintained that the "principle of seniority was disregarded" while appointing the apex court judges.

A large police contingent and personnel of other law enforcement agencies were deployed outside the SC in order to keep the situation in control.

In Lahore, lawyers boycotted hearings in line with the protest in the capital city.

Lahore High Court (LHC) Bar Association President Riaz-ul-Hassan Gillani said that the Pakistan Bar Council had given a call to boycott the courts under which the lawyers will not attend hearings in LHC, district courts, and LHC Multan bench.

Later in the day, the LHC Bar Association in a meeting approved a resolution against the appointment of junior judges to the SC.

Gillani said that until a set of rules is developed on the appointment of judges, all appointments must be made on the basis of seniority.

The protest extended to Sindh as well, where lawyers observed a complete boycott of courts across the province, on the Sindh Bar Association’s call.

Hearings of thousands of cases were adjourned to a later date as neither lawyers attended the hearings at Karachi City Court and other courts, nor were the prisoners brought to the courts.

Even the entrance gates of Sindh High Court (SHC) were closed for petitioners.

The decision to observe a country-wide boycott of courts to protest the appointment of apex court judges without taking the principle of seniority into account was made during a lawyers convention in Karachi, said SHC Bar Association General Secretary Advocate Umar Soomro.

Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Abdul Latif Afridi had given the call for a country-wide protest on September 9, the same day that the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) was to sit to deliberate over the elevation of LHC's Justice Ayesha Malik to the SC. 

Elevation of junior judges

On August 31, a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Appointment Of Judges In Superior Courts unanimously approved constitutional amendments that support the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court in accordance with their seniority.

The approval, however, came after the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) opposed the JCP's recommendation for Justice Malik's elevation to the SC. Justice Malik ranks number four on the seniority list of the LHC.

The move to nominate her has drawn widespread condemnation by lawyers associations.

In July, the SCBA and PBC had also voiced concern over the elevation of SHC judge Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar as four other judges, Chief Justice SHC Justice Ahmed Ali M Shaikh, senior Puisne Judge Justice Irfan Saadat Khan, Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi and Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi are senior to him. His appointment to the SC was subsequently confirmed by the JCP.