Seeks Opposition’s role in judges appointment
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Monday praised the retiring chief justice of Pakistan, Gulzar Ahmed, for “supporting minorities” in the country as well as “authoring independent judgements”.
Justice Ahmed is set to retire today (February 1) after two years and 42 days in office. He was appointed to the highest judicial office in the land on Dec 21, 2019.
Justice Umar Ata Bandial will take over as the chief justice on February 2 in his place.
On the eve of Justice Ahmed’s retirement, Chaudhry praised his “historic stand” regarding minorities’ places of worship, saying it had greatly increased his honour and prestige.
“At a time when India’s judiciary seems helpless at the hands of extremists, judges like Justice Gulzar supported minorities and wrote independent judgments,” he tweeted. In another tweet, the minister noted that five Supreme Court judges are set to retire in 2022, therefore, parliament should focus on introducing an amendment in the Constitution regarding judicial appointments. If the parliament can make the process of appointments to the Supreme Court independent and transparent, it would be a huge accomplishment, he added.
He urged all political parties to set aside their differences and consider the idea of a constitutional amendment.
A day earlier, the information minister urged the judiciary to take stock of its rapidly declining reputation in the world rankings and stated that it would be a big challenge for the next chief justice.
He had highlighted a question raised by Minister for Law Farogh Naseem while commenting on the Sarina Isa case judgement: “If the judges are not responsible for the assets of their wives and children, then how is it possible to hold politicians and bureaucrats accountable?”
“The judiciary needs to take stock of its rapidly declining reputation in the world rankings. It will be a big challenge for new chief justice when he swears in,” .
