ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) will observe a strike on January 6 — the day of the Judicial Commission (JCP) meeting, where the elevation of Lahore High Court Judge Ayesha Malik to the Supreme Court of Pakistan will be considered.
A meeting of the representatives of Pakistan, provincial and Islamabad bar councils, Supreme Court Bar Association and all the high court bar associations were held on Monday.
The representative meeting took notice of the nomination of Justice Ayesha Malik for appointment in the Honourable Supreme Court, violating the seniority principle, superseding three Honourable judges of the Lahore High Court (LHC) including the Honourable Chief Justice, who are not only senior to her in service but also senior in legal practice before their elevation to the Honourable High Court.
The participants were of the view that the representative meeting also holds that the bar is consistently demanding for laying down the criteria for the elevation of judges to the superior judiciary not only for appointment in the Supreme Court but also in the High courts and the Federal Shariat Court.
In a statement, PBC Vice-Chairman Khushdil Khan said that the council would observe a strike and completely boycott courts on the day of the JCP meeting.
Khan said he was unable to understand what was the purpose of appointing Justice Malik to the apex court, adding that women judges can be appointed to the top court, but seniority should be considered.
The PBC official further stated that Chief Justice Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed had already said that the matter of appointing new judges should be left to the incoming top judge.
It is pertinent to note that the CJP had proposed Justice Malik’s name for appointment to the SC for the second time last month. Her elevation had remained inconclusive earlier in September due to a divide in the JCP, with four members opposing and four others supporting her elevation.
The matter was then deferred by the judicial commission. The JCP will reconsider elevating Justice Malik to the Supreme Court on January 6, 2022, despite opposition from the legal community, which believes judges should be appointed based on seniority.
