PESHAWAR: Four judges of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) have been barred from performing judicial duties as the official notification confirming their permanent appointments has not yet been issued.
According to sources, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan approved the appointment of four judges as permanent members of the Peshawar High Court on July 20. However, the summary regarding their confirmation has yet to be signed by the President, preventing the Ministry of Law from issuing the formal notification.
The affected judges include Justice Farah Jamshed, Justice Inamullah Khan, Justice Sabitullah Khan, and Justice Aurangzeb. Sources said the judges cannot resume judicial work until they take a fresh oath following the issuance of the permanency notification.
The Peshawar High Court has reportedly informed the federal Ministry of Law about the situation, which has created administrative difficulties for the court.
President of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association Aminur Rehman Yousafzai appealed to President Asif Ali Zardari to sign the summary and notify the matter forthwith, arguing that the President’s constitutional duty is to approve the summary and not re-evaluate the judges after the Judicial Commission has already assessed the performance of judges.
He argued that the Judicial Commission has already examined the judges’ performance and then only approved their permanent appointment. He continued to argue that there are delays in issuing the notification, which are causing problems in the functioning of the High Court when it already suffers from a lack of judges and a mounting case backlog.
He stated that the delay is causing hardships to the judiciary and that the four judges must be permitted to start their work in order to deliver justice to the people in time.
He also highlighted that the President had earlier approved a six month extension for the judges, but there is a delay now in issuing the permanency notification.
