President Asif Ali Zardari has approved the appointment of additional judges to five high courts and confirmed several sitting additional judges as permanent, according to an official statement (Geo News).
The appointments cover the Lahore, Sindh, Peshawar, Islamabad and Balochistan high courts, with confirmations of additional judges of the Lahore and Sindh high courts as permanent judges. The Ministry of Law and Justice issued the notification following the approval.
The timing is the story. The approvals came a day after the Islamabad High Court sought responses from the president and the prime minister over the delay in approving the very summary at issue.
At Monday’s hearing, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir questioned the status of the summary and observed that more than 18 days had passed since it was forwarded for approval. The court issued notices to the president and prime minister through their secretaries and sought replies by Tuesday — the day the approvals were granted.
The proceedings arose from a petition by advocate Luqman Zafar, who argued that nominations approved by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan at its meetings on July 20 and 21, and forwarded to the president through the prime minister under Article 175A(8) of the Constitution, remained pending.
In its written order the court directed the federal government and the Law Ministry to report when the summary was sent to the president and what action had followed, and to explain the constitutional implications of leaving advice on judicial appointments pending beyond the prescribed period. Whether that question is now moot, or is still to be answered, has not been indicated.
Separately, the president approved measures bringing the salaries, allowances and pensions of Supreme Court judges into line with those of the Federal Constitutional Court, and amendments to the 1997 order on leave, pensions and other benefits for high court judges.
He also approved the appointment of Haroon Akhtar as Adviser to the Prime Minister on Industries and Production.
