Parliamentary committee on judges be reconstituted: JAP

The Judicial Activism Panel (JAP) on Saturday demanded the federal government remove Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) members from the parliamentary committee on judges’ appointment, as they have joined the treasury benches and appoint new members from the opposition benches. The demand was made through a resolution passed by the JAP in its emergent meeting chaired by Chairman Azhar Siddique. The JAP said that since the PML-Q has joined the federal government, its members should be excluded from the parliamentary committee and new members from the opposition be included in line with Article 175 of the constitution to expedite the appointment of judges to high courts.
Siddique pointed out that the committee consists of four members from the treasury benches, two each from the National Assembly and Senate, and four from the opposition benches. Presently only the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and religious parties are in the opposition and if the committee is not reconstituted immediately, it would further delay the appointment of judges, which would aggravate litigants’ problems. He called for re-summoning the meeting of the Judicial Commission. Siddique also said that new judges should be appointed from competent and honest lawyers of the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) and Bahawalpur Bar Association.