Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Former Senate chairman and federal law minister Farooq H Naek said on Saturday that Parliamentary Committee of the Senate on Judges had formed a sub-committee to update Article 175-A of the Constitution of Pakistan and appointed him as its convener.

This sub-committee had held consultations with all bar associations and bar councils, including the Supreme Court Bar Association president, its vice chairmen, the Pakistan Bar Council and the Provincial Bar Councils and eminent lawyers.

“About approximately one and a half year ago a bill was drafted after intense consultations, which included the opinions of all the senior office bearers of the esteemed bar councils and bar Associations of the country. Afterwards this bill was presented before the Parliamentary Committee on Judges which approved this draft bill unanimously,” he said.

“Then this bill was sent to the then federal law minister Zahid Hamid so that the government proceeds for the approval of this bill from the Parliament. No progress was made on the bill and Law Ministry made no effort to table the bill before the Parliament,” he said.

Naek said that Pakistan People’s Party wanted to increase the age of retirement of Judges. “Judges should not retire at an early age when they have to offer a lot to the nation and country,” Senator Naek said. He said that the same model should be adopted in case of senior officials of different institutions such as police service.

These senior officials should be medically examined on yearly basis after age of sixty years to evaluate their health, efficiency and workability. “If they are fit, then they should be asked to work for the nation,” Naek said.

Published in Daily Times, February 11^th 2018.