Something fishy in Judicial Commission, says Asma

Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Asma Jahangir said on Tuesday that by not inducting judges from amongst lawyers of Lahore, the Judicial Commission (JC) had given a message to the legal community that there was something fishy in the affairs of the commission.
Questioning the legality of the JC, Asma said the commission had no members competent enough to be judges of the higher judiciary, and that was why its work was dubious. Asma, flanked by SCBA Secretary Qamar Zaman Qureshi and Vice President (Lahore) Zubair Khalid, told reporters at a press conference that the composition of the JC was against constitutional provisions.
She said according to Article 175A(A) of the constitution, a lawyer with more than 15 years of practice in the high courts would be nominated by the bar council concerned for a two-year term as a member of the JC, but one member from Balochistan did not have the required experience. She said a JC member from Balochistan was an additional judge, but according to the constitution the most senior judge of the high court should be the JC member.
“We are worried about the functioning of the commission,” she said. Not selecting any lawyers from Lahore to be part of the JC was a message to the bar of Lahore that it did not have a single competent lawyer that could serve like a judge. She said Lahore had many competent lawyers.
She said the JC also discriminated against lawyers in favour of sessions judges in the elevation process, as corruption of the judges was ignored but a lawyer was not elevated to judgeship because of his previous affiliation with a political party. She said further that Supreme Court judge Justice Jawad S Khawaja was “rewarded” with a place in the apex court for his role in the restoration of sacked judges. Justice Khawaja had resigned as judge of the LHC during the movement. SCBA Secretary Qamar Zaman Qureshi objected to the views expressed by Asma and said Justice Khawaja deserved his position and was appointed purely on merit. He said the Supreme Court needed Justice Khawaja.