Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice Tuesday unanimously approved the Constitutional Amendment Bill 2016, seeking elimination of Article-182 from the Constitution that allows appointment of ad hoc judges in the Supreme Court (SC).

The meeting of the committee was held here at the Parliament House with Senator Muhammad Javed Abbasi, in the chair.

Senator Aitzaz Ahsan said that the appointment of ad hoc judges in the SC deprived the high court chief justices and senior judges of the right of elevation to the apex court. He said that the ad hoc judges were appointed in the SC when the quorum was not completed. He said that the Article-182 should be deleted from the Constitution forever.

It may be mentioned that the representatives of the bar councils and associations have supported the constitutional amendment bill in the Senate Law Committee.

The committee also considered the ‘Supreme Court (Number of Judges) (Amendment) Bill 2016’ introduced by Senator Babar Awan and summoned the women representatives of the Supreme Court Bar, Pakistan Bar Council and provincial bars for their opinion.

Babar Awan said the purpose of the bill was to give representation to women in the higher judiciary as not a single woman had ever been elevated as the judge of the SC.He said according to the proposed amendment, there would be at least 1/3 female judges in the apex court.