HCs to appoint lower courts judges

KARACHI - The full bench of Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday allowed the constitutional petitions moved against the amendment over the appointments of judicial officials by Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC), setting aside the notification regarding the amendment.
The bench was headed by SHC Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali while the other members were Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, Justice Nadeem Azhar Siddiqui and Justice Karim Khan Agha. The bench gave the decision by issuing short order after hearing the arguments from both the sides.
Advocate General Sindh Yousuf Laghari argued that the provincial government of Sindh had taken initiative about bringing the amendment over the appointments of the judicial officials by SPSC. As the process is observed in the other three provinces, where the lower courts officials are appointed by their respective public service commissions, the said amendment is according to the constitution.
Laghari maintained that during the last few years, the judicial officials had been appointed by the SHC, while the government had decided to recruit the officials through SPSC.
Intercepting the governments counsel, Rasheed A Rizvi advocate representing the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA), argued that the judicial officials in the other three provinces were being appointed by their high courts and the amendment had been brought in Sindh to authorise SPSC to appoint the officials in the courts.
Earlier, Rasheed A Rizvi completed his arguments before the bench by arguing that the provincial government had intercepted in the authority of the high court by brining such amendment, as the ordinance that gave the power to SPSC to appoint the judicial officials, was violation of the constitution. He quoted Sharif Fareedi case saying that it had been declared that the judicial officials would be appointed by the high court.
He also gave reference of the neighbouring country India that their governors of the states were authorised to appoint the judicial officials in their judiciary, but with the approval of the concerned chief justices. He said that the Pakistan constitution was more comprehensible, in which the judicial officials could only be appointed by the chief justices. The recent ordinance passed by the provincial government was a violation of the constitution, which translated the entire power to the executive from the judiciary about appointment of the officials in the courts.
According to BBC, after the verdict, High Courts have got back authority to appoint judges in lower courts.
After the court proceeding, Advocate General Yousuf Laghari told the mediamen that they would move to the Supreme Court with an appeal against the order of SHC.