SC asks government to extend tenure of IHC judges

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the president to issue notifications for appointing Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui as a judge and Noorul Haq Qureshi as an additional judge in the Islamabad High Court.The judgment was issued by a larger bench of the apex court headed by Justice Khilji Arif Hussain over a constitutional petition filed by Nadeem Ahmed advocate.
President Asif Ali Zardari had held notifications on the appointment of IHC judges, as recommended by the Judicial Commission, on the grounds that Justice Anwar Khan Kasi, a member of the meeting, was not as senior as the judge he was replacing on the Judicial Commission. The petition had sought issuance of a notification for a six-month extension for Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi as an additional judge and the permanent appointment of Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui as a judge of the IHC. The petitioner had argued that all constitutional formalities, as laid down in Article 175A, had been completed for extension in the term of office and for confirmation as judge of the IHC during the past one month.
The SC ordered that Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the IHC be made permanent and directed President Asif Ali Zardari to issue a notification for a six-month extension in the tenure of Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi. The short order said both judges would be considered appointed since November 20, 2012 from the date of expiry of their tenure.
The two judges, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui and Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi, had earlier been nominated by the Judicial Commission (JC) and approved by the Parliamentary Committee (PC) under Article 175A. Their terms expired on November 20 after President Asif Ali Zardari returned the recommendations to the Judicial Commission with an observation to reconsider the nominations, because the commission that had finalised the names had not been constituted properly. The controversy erupted over the composition of the Judicial Commission in which Justice Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi participated in place of senior judge Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan, who was in Saudi Arabia to perform Haj when the commission had met.