Parliamentary Committee for judges' appointment: Senate Secretary seeks names from treasury, opposition

Secretary Senate, Raja Muhammad Amin, has written letters to Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, Leader of the House in Senate Syed Nayyer Hussain Bokhari and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, seeking nomination for constitution of Parliamentary Committee for appointment of superior courts' judges.
Well-placed sources in Senate Secretariat told Business Recorder here on Tuesday that the Senate Secretary had written the letters seeking names of the members from treasury as well as opposition for setting up the Parliamentary Committee under Article 175-A of the Constitution for appointment of judges of the Supreme Court, High Courts and the Federal Shariat Court.
The apex court has already directed that the procedure laid down in Article 175-A for appointment of superior courts judges be adopted unless it is reviewed by the Parliament. The sources said that Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Wasim Sajjad has given his own name along with President Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain as members of the Parliamentary Committee for appointment of judges.
When contacted, Secretary Senate, Raja Muhammad Amin, confirmed that he has written letters seeking names of the members of the Parliamentary Committee to be set up for judges' appointment. He also confirmed that the main opposition party in the Senate, PML-Q, has already given the names of Wasim Sajjad and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain for the Parliamentary Committee.
According to clauses (9) and (10) of Article 175-A of the Constitution, "The Parliamentary Committee, hereinafter in this Article referred to as the Committee, shall consist of the following eight members, namely: (i) four members from the Senate; and (ii) four members from the National Assembly."
"10) Out of the eight members of the Committee, four shall be from the treasury benches, two from each House and four from the Opposition Benches, two from each House. The nomination of the members from the treasury benches shall be made by the Leader of the House and form the Opposition Benches by the Leader of the Opposition." According clause (11) of the Article 175-A, "Secretary, Senate shall act as the Secretary of the Committee."