The Supreme Court ordered the attorney general on Monday to ask the government when it was going to notify the six additional judges of the Lahore High Court and Sindh High Court on their one-year extensions, and to report to the court on Wednesday. A four-member special bench comprising Justice Mahmood Akhtar Shahid Siddiqui, Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, Justice Tariq Parvez and Justice Amir Hani Muslim was hearing two identical petitions filed by lawyer Munir Hussain Bhatti and the Sindh High Court Bar Association seeking initiation of contempt of court proceedings against Law Secretary Muhammad Masood Chishti for not issuing the notifications despite apex court orders.
Appearing on notice, Additional Attorney General KK Agha told the court that under Article 175(A) of the constitution, the process was that the Parliamentary Committee sent the names of the judges, recommended by the Judicial Commission, to the prime minister, who sent these names to the president. He said after the president signed off on the names, the Law Ministry would issue the notifications.
Makhdoom Ali Khan and Anwar Mansoor Khan, counsels for the petitioners, stated that the Supreme Court had ordered the government on March 4 to issue notifications for these six judges within 14 days, however the notifications had so far not been issued, which was grounds for contempt of court.
Justice Khawaja said the Parliamentary Committee was no longer concerned with the matter, as the notifications had to be issued by the government now. He said the repercussions were obvious if government does not issue the notifications.
