A former judge of the Islamabad High Court on Tuesday filed an appeal before the Supreme Court against the judgment of the Peshawar High Court which dismissed his plea seeking confirmation as a judge of the IHC. Azim Khan Afridi was appointed as additional judge of IHC on November 21, 2011, against a reserved seat for FATA. However, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) in its meeting of October 22, 2012, failed to confirm him as permanent judge of the IHC.
There were allegations against him that during his tenure as additional judge of the IHC he appointed 45 of his associates in the lower judiciary, for which the JCP deferred his case as permanent judge of the IHC.
Challenging the JCP decision through a writ petition filed in the Peshawar High Court on December 26, 2012, he said that his name had not been confirmed illegally as a permanent judge of the IHC. However, after keeping his petition for five years the Peshawar High Court dismissed it on September 5 this year for its not being maintainable for lack of territorial jurisdiction.
Azim Khan on Friday filed the appeal under Article 185 of the Constitution. In it he made the law secretary, the secretary of the JCP, the secretary parliamentary committee, and the incumbent chief justice and other judges of the IHC as respondents. According to him, the findings of the PHC are erroneous and patently illegal.
Filing the appeal before the Supreme Court through his counsel, Muhammad Moazam Butt, he said that despite his many contributions he was made culpable and his name was not confirmed by the JCP. He said that his career and his future were purposely destroyed, and that his name was not considered for confirmation despite what he described as his meritorious record, hard work and excellent decisions improving the IHC's administrative working.
Afridi also alleged that for the purpose of conferring illegal favours on Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui and ensuring his confirmation, a formal complaints lodged against the judge in the Supreme Judicial Council were concealed from the Commission.