ISLAMABAD: The political parties approved amendments to the Article 175-A of the Constitution to empower Parliamentary Committee to appoint judges instead of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan.
The Standing Committee of Senate on Law and Justice changed the composition of the Judicial Commission and empowered the Parliamentary Committee once again to appointment judges.
During the meeting, the committee decided that the Parliamentary Committee might accept or reject the nominations and that its decision would not be subjected to any challenge in the Supreme Court or a high court.
“Article 175A of the Constitution stands amended so that the constitution of the Judicial Commission has been changed, Parliamentary Committee has been empowered and a new Committee called the ‘Initiation Committee’ has been formed, which shall nominate the judges to the High Courts,” a statement, issued by the committee, stated.
The committee, led by Senator Syed Ali Zafar, discussed the Constitutional Amendment Bill and decided that the decisions of the Initiation Committee, the Judicial Commission and the Parliamentary Committee must be made within fixed timeframe.
Senators Rana Maqbool Ahmad, Farooq Hamid Naek, Azam Khan Swati, Munzoor Kakar and Shibli Faraz attended the meeting while Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar was also in attendance along with other senior officers of the departments concerned.
In order to ensure the independence of judiciary, Barrister Ali Zafar who is chairman of the committee, emphasised the need for transparency in the process of judges appointment and their removal.
