JCP defers appointment of Justice Ramday, Jafri

ISLAMABAD – Following vociferous protests by the country’s various bar associations, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on Saturday deferred a decision made by a Supreme Court full bench to appoint two judges to the apex court on an ad hoc basis.
The full bench had passed a unanimous resolution approving the ad hoc reappointment of Justice (r) Khalilur Rahman Ramday and the ad hoc appointment of Justice (r) Rahmat Hussain Jafri, for a year and two years, respectively.
The commission, however, recommended to the parliamentary committee to extend for one year the service tenure of six additional judges of the Sindh High Court, while dropping three names, including Justice Abdul Hadi Khoso, Justice Zahid Hamid and Justice Zakir. The service tenure of all these nine judges had expired on Friday. The six judges, who have been recommended to be given one-year extension, include Justice Imam Bux Baloch, Justice Nisar Muhammad Sheikh, Justice Tasneem, Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Salman Hamid.
Earlier, the full court, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on February 14, had passed a resolution for one year extension in service of Justice (r) Khalilur Rahman Ramday on ad hoc basis, and the appointment of Justice (r) Rahmat Hussain Jafri as an ad hoc judge for two years. Justice Ramday was appointed on February 18, 2010, for a one-year period and was scheduled to retire on February 17. Justice (r) Jafri retired as a Supreme Court judge on November 22, 2010.
The Supreme Court had also cancelled the full court reference scheduled in honour of Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday on February 15. President of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Asma Jahangir, had reacted strongly to the development and the executive committee of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) had also protested the full court resolution for Justice Ramday and Justice Jafri.
It has been learnt that Law Minister Babar Awan, who is a member of the JCP, pointed out that the commission should not appoint the judges on ad hoc basis, as the decision would create a divide in the JCP.