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Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Senator Barrister Syed Ali Zafar seeks Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi to postpone the Judicial Commission of Pakistan’s (JCP) meeting scheduled for today (Monday)

As per details, recently four Supreme Court justices called CJP Yahya Afridi to postpone the appointments until the challenges to the 26th Amendment were resolved. After days, the PTI Senator Barrister Syed Ali Zafar wrote a letter to CJP Yahya Afridi seeking CJP to hold off on appointments.

He urged CJP Yahya Afridi to postpone the commission’s meeting until the matter of seniority of judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) was decided and resolved.

Zafar wrote four-page letter, said, “If the commission still chooses to proceed with the meeting anyway, it should not at least consider any of the judges transferred to the IHC recently as eligible for appointment as the chief justice of the high court or the judge of the Supreme Court”

Ali Zafar emphasized in his letter said, “Judicial Commission must act with ‘heightened care’ to uphold public trust”.

He highlighted the potential issue that could arise following the JCP’s February 10 meeting, which is expected to result in Supreme Court appointments and possibly create a vacancy for the IHC chief justice. He also posed a critical question regarding which judge would be eligible for the position based on seniority.

“Justice must not only be done but also be seen to be done,” he underlined.

“There is a perception among the general public and many in the legal community that these developments may be linked to high-profile appeals filed by PTI founder Imran Khan and Mrs Imran Khan against their illegal convictions based on political victimisation, which are currently before IHC,” Mr Zafar added

“To ward off such perceptions and uphold public trust, it is important for the JCP to act with heightened care, caution, and transparency,” he further stated in his letter.

He expressed his concern over the recent transfer of the judges to IHC and the resulting controversy of seniority gave rise to objections

“It is not difficult to perceive a reality where the IHC will not now fall victim to deep and manifesting resentment between the judges,” he feared.

“The letter by sitting judges of the IHC confirms this apprehension. This too is likely to have an arresting effect on court functioning and the administration of justice.”

Syed Ali Zafar suggested to the CJP that before finalizing the fresh roster, the three most senior serving high court judges should be considered eligible for appointment as chief justice and Supreme Court judge

He called that in  Al-Jehad case had held that most senior judge of the high court has a legitimate expectancy to be appointed as the chief justice,“It is necessary to ensure that the legitimate expectancy of the judges of the high courts to be treated fairly and in accordance with the Constitution and law,”

“The effect of this transfer and the assignment of seniority done subsequent thereto has removed one sitting judge of the IHC from the list of three most senior judges,” he further wrote in letter.

“It is quite evident that this transfer and the issuance of the seniority roster violates the legitimate expectancy of not only these judges but also the other judges”, he added.