Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The appointment of former Chief Justice Supreme Court Saeed uz Zaman Siddiqui as Governor Sindh has been challenged in Islamabad High Court on Monday. The petition was moved by a citizen Shahid Orakzai seeking to set aside the federal government’s notification regarding the appointment of the Sindh Governor. The petitioner had stated that article 207 of the Constitution does not allow a judge to assume the office of the governor under article 101.

He said that Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui was reportedly a 79-year old man and the constitution does not accept any appointed person in the service of Pakistan in that age group. He further stated the current governor is not qualified to be elected as a member of the National Assembly. This petition shall be dismissed if the federal government can produce a nomination form of the Mr. Siddiqui for election to National Assembly or the Sindh Provincial Assembly.

The petitioner said the federal government may ask whether the former chief justice was called back to the service of Pakistan as a retired judge or merely rewarded for party loyalty. He prayed the court to restrain Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui from performing functions of Sindh Governor Office and declare his appointment as a violation of constitution. He appealed to the court to instruct the federal government to appoint a new governor in accordance with article 103 of constitution.

The petitioner also requested the court to also hear an identical petition challenging the appointmnent of Governor Balochistan along with the above suit. This petition was already pending with the court, he added. However, the registrar office of IHC had raised some objections on petition regarding the court jurisdiction. The single member bench of IHC would likely to hear the petition on December 1 along with the objections raised by registrar office regarding the court jurisdiction.

It may be mentioned here that an identical petition was also moved in Lahore High Court (LHC) a few weeks back by Barrister Javed Iqbal Jaffri against the appointment of new Sindh governor and the federal government was made a party in the plea. The petitioner has claimed that Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui is physically unfit for the post of governor due to his poor health. The petitioner urged the court to nullify his appointment as Sindh governor.