ISLAMABAD: The 12-member Special Parliamentary Committee, constituted for the first time in the country’s history to the select Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), has nominated Justice Yahya Afridi as the new Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP).
The committee met here on Tuesday and held various rounds to take the decision on the appointment of new CJP following the arrival of retirement date of CJP Qazi Faez Isa who is set to retire on October 26, 2024 and it nominated Justice Yahya Afridi as the new CJP.
Afridi became a Judge of Peshawar High Court (PHC) in 2010 and joined as a judge of SC in 2018.
Following the formal approval of the Yahya Afridi’s name for new CJP, the committee will forward a summary to the Prime Minister of Pakistan. The Prime Minister’s Office will send the summary to the President of Pakistan for formal approval.
Talking to journalists after the in-camera meeting of the committee, Federal Minister for Law and Justice Senator Azam Nazir Tarar said that the committee with two-thirds majority has agreed to appoint Justice Yahya Afridi as the next CJP. He said that the committee has forwarded the nominee’s name to the PM’s Office.
However, Senator Farooq H Naek of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), after the conclusion of the meeting, said that the committee members have made all out efforts to convince Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) to attend its meeting but unfortunately, they did not attend it.
Another committee member Federal Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that the panel also discussed the name of Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Munib Akhtar but agreed to select Justice Yahya Afridi. He said that the entire process was transparent and as per law, adding that there is no harm in selecting CJP from the set of most senior three judges as being done in case of the appointment of Chief Of Army Staff (COAS).
The committee consists of senators Azam Nazeer Tarar from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Farooq H Naek from PPP, Syed Ali Zafar from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and Kamran Murtaza from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), while, members of the NA from PML-N include Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal and Shaista Parvez, Raana Ansar from Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Syed Naveed Qamar and Raja Pervez Ashraf from PPP, and Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Sahibzada Hamid Raza from the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
The first round of in-camera meeting of the parliamentary panel comprising government and opposition members held in the afternoon at room no 5 of the Parliament House. However, the members belonging to the opposition PTI-backed SIC refused to attend the meeting, prompting the committee members to meet again but the opposition members also not attended the final session.
In a statement, the National Assembly Secretariat said that the SIC members have taken final decision not to attend the parliamentary panel’s meeting. “The committee has been apprised of the SIC’s decision.”
The secretariat noted that a sub-committee, comprising four members, Ahsan Iqbal, Rana Ansar, Raja Pervez Ashraf and Kamran Murtaza, was constituted to convince the SIC lawmakers to attend the meeting, “but to no avail.” During their meeting with SIC members, the statement noted, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said that they would not attend the parliamentary committee’s session in line with the PTI’s political committee’s decision.
Despite efforts by the committee, including National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, to convince the PTI members to attend, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan confirmed that their political committee had decided to abstain from the proceedings. “We have made our decision. We will not be part of this committee’s meetings,” Gohar stated, following discussions in Speaker Sadiq’s office.
As per clause 3C of Article 175A, the committee by the majority of not less than two-thirds of its total membership, within 14 days prior to retirement of the CJP would send the nomination. However, the first nomination under clause 3 after commencement of the Constitution (Twenty-sixth) Act 2024 would be sent within three days prior to retirement of the chief justice. However, the clause (3) of Article 175A also mentioned that if the nominee from among three senior most judges declines, the remaining judges from among three senior most judges would be considered for nomination.
Earlier in the day, the speaker met with members of the special parliamentary committee to discuss the ongoing deadlock. The committee had formed a four-member subcommittee to engage with the PTI, consisting of Ahsan Iqbal, Rana Ansar, Raja Pervez Ashraf, and Kamran Murtaza, in an attempt to bring them into the discussions. Despite these efforts, the boycott continued.
In an earlier attempt to resolve the deadlock, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, had reached out to PTI’s Asad Qaiser, requesting his party’s participation. However, Qaiser requested more time to consult with party leadership, leading to continued uncertainty over PTI’s involvement.
The absence of both PTI and SIC members has caused the committee to postpone its meeting, initially scheduled to discuss the three senior-most judges nominated for the post of Chief Justice: Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, and Justice Yahya Afridi.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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