PTI wholeheartedly accepts Justice Yahya Afridi as CJP, says Barrister Gohar

• PTI chairman says no division on accepting CJP within party.
• Party's Hamid Khan opposed Justice Yahya's appointment.
• Gohar among PTI leaders who favoured joining Judicial Commission.
  

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) wholeheartedly accepts Justice Yahya Afridi as the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), the party's chairman, Barrister Gohar, said on Wednesday.

Talking to The News, he said that as per the party policy, PTI wholeheartedly rejects the 26th Amendment but accepts the newly-appointed CJP wholeheartedly.

Barrister Gohar said that although CJP Afridi has been appointed as the consequence of the 26th Amendment, the party accepts him as the CJP.

According to a PTI source, some in the party's political committee were of the view that PTI should demand resignation from CJP Afridi.

When asked, Barrister Gohar denied it and said no such option was under consideration. PTI's political committee, he said, decided a few days ago that the party would join the Judicial Commission.

Senior lawyer and PTI senator Hamid Khan had urged Justice Afridi to reject the government's offer to assume the role of chief justice early, advising him to wait for his "rightful turn".

Speaking at a press conference at the Lahore High Court Bar Association last week, Hamid emphasised that accepting the position prematurely could damage Afridi's reputation.

"Yahya Afridi should wait for his turn and preserve his honour and name. The government's offer is designed to create divisions within the judiciary," Hamid had said.

Hamid and many PTI leaders were expecting that the Hamid Khan group in the legal fraternity, which is against the 26th Constitutional Amendment,and had announced to launch a lawyers movement against the amendment and consequential appointment of Justice Afridi as the CJP, would win the Supreme Court Bar Association election held on Wednesday.

The Hamid Khan group instead lost the Supreme Court Bar Association election to the Ahsan Bhoon group, which supports the 26th Constitutional Amendment and the appointment of Justice Afridi as CJP.

The PTI, which had opposed and rejected the 26th Constitutional Amendment, had given its nominations for the Special Parliamentary Committee (created under the 26th Constitutional Amendment) but boycotted the committee's proceeding, which chose Justice Yahya as the CJP.

It was said that the PTI political committee had decided not to become a part of the process of the new CJP's appointment as it would mean accepting the 26th Constitutional Amendment.

During its last meeting, the political committee of the PTI was divided on whether to join the Judicial Commission, which besides appointing the judges is also empowered to constitute constitutional benches.

Many in the political committee were insisting that PTI should not join the Judicial Commission but, according to the source, Barrister Gohar, Ali Zafar, and Omar Ayub were among those leaders who vehemently argued to become a part of the process.

Otherwise, they warned that the government will get a free hand to constitute constitutional benches.

Originally published in The News