Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Monday adjourned the hearing of a petition until December 16 seeking removal of 229 civil judges-cum-judicial magistrates of Punjab who failed to pass the departmental examination for regularisation.
Advocate Chaudhry Fakhir Razzaq filed the petition against Civil Judge-cum-Judicial Magistrate Asif Iqbal and 228 others judges recruited by the LHC in mid-2010. Questioning the caliber of the judges, the petitioner said that 288 civil judges-cum-judicial magistrates appeared in the departmental examination for their regularisation but only 59 passed it. He pointed out that 22 successful judges were given grace marks for declaring them passed and a majority of unsuccessful judges failed in all six subjects of law given in the departmental examination. Razzaq said that these judges were directly appointed by the LHC last year, after written test and interview but it was regrettable that they proved incompetent in the departmental test. He said that it was disappointing and an alarming situation for the district judiciary that it was in control of such judges, who failed in the test aimed at checking their capabilities and skills for propose of regularisation.