Daily Times

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) on Friday rejected the names, sent by the Lahore High Court chief justice to Judicial Commission, regarding appointment of new judges for LHC.

The bar demanded that the Judicial Commission should first lay down rules and recommend names for appointment of judges after holding thorough consultations with the bar associations. The bar insisted that the LHC supervisory committee had no authority to suspend the licenses of lawyers, as this authority vested with the bar councils, adding that judiciary should not erode the authority of the lawyers’ representative body.

The LCHBA was of the view that bar and bench relationship would weaken if the judges would treat lawyers as their personal servants.

The bar, in its general house meeting, unanimously carried a resolution presented by former LHCBA finance secretary Rai Muhammad Kharl. LHCBA President Rana Zia Abdur Rehman presided over the meeting. The bar meeting was also called to discuss the suspension of practice licence of the LHCBA vice president by LHC Chief Justice Mansoor Ali Shah on charges of misbehaving with an additional district and sessions’ judge.

Rana Zia said that without consultations with the elected body of lawyers, the judges could not misuse their powers. He said that relatives of judges or advocates belonging to their chambers should not be elevated as judges of LHC, adding that appointments should only be made on merit.

He said that the bar was sad to observe the advocates from Lahore and south Punjab were not even considered for appointments. He said that the lawyers from these areas should not be ignored and that was why the lawyers were insisting that their representatives should be consulted.

LHCBA Secretary Muhammad Anas Ghazi along with other members including Muhammad Ehsan Wyne, Abdul Rashid Qureshi, Tauseefur Rehman, Anwar Ghumman, Babar A Khilji and Muhammad Akhtar Padda also spoke on the occasion.