Daily Times

The Parliamentary Committee on Judges Appointment on Wednesday approved the promotion of Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Justice Ayesha Malik to the position of a Supreme Court’s (SC) judge, a private TV channel reported.

The committee, under the chairmanship of Farooq Hamid Naek, decided to approve Justice Ayesha’s elevation, per the report.

According to Farooq Naek, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on January 7 approved the nomination of Justice Ayesha Malik for her appointment as the Supreme Court judge with a vote of five out of nine.

He further said that the court is not abolishing the procedure to appoint judges based on their seniority, adding that Malik would be the first woman to become an SC judge and “she would benefit the country”. If appointed, Malik will be the first female Supreme Court judge in the judicial history of Pakistan.

It is pertinent to mention here that Justice Ayesha Malik is ranked fourth in the Lahore High Court in terms of seniority. The Pakistan Bar Council had declared a strike against the appointment of Justice Ayesha Malik.

Out of the 17 judges appointed in the Supreme Court, Justice Ayesha Malik has been nominated for the seat which became vacant after the retirement of Justice Mushir Alam on August 17. Chief justice of Pakistan and chief justice LHC had suggested the name of Justice Ayesha, to which she also agreed in writing.

A lack of consensus over the appointment of Justice Malik had surfaced during the JCP’s meeting on Sep 9 last year in which four members of the commission had opposed the proposal to elevate her, while an equal number supported it.

Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, former judge Dost Mohammad Khan and a representative of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), Akhtar Hussain, had opposed the idea whereas Chief Justice CJP Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Federal Law Minister Barrister Dr Farogh Naseem and Attorney General (AGP) Khalid Jawed Khan had favoured Justice Malik.

At the time, the Supreme Court Bar Association President Abdul Latif Afridi had called a countrywide protest to express anger over disregard to the seniority principle in the appointment of judges to the apex court.

The same criticism was levelled this time as well, with the legal fraternity calling on the chief justice to postpone the JCP meeting. In case the meeting was not called off, the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and all bar associations said they would boycott all court proceedings, from the superior judiciary to the lower courts. While the JCP was holding its session, lawyers had arranged a protest and convention in a nearby office of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA). They accused the judiciary of favouritism in the appointment of superior court judges and thus harming its image.