PESHAWAR: The News said on Thursday that Chief Justice Muhammad Ibrahim Khan of the Peshawar High Court bemoaned favoritism after discovering his name was absent from the list of judges being nominated to the Supreme Court.
In a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa, the Chief Justice expressed his expectation that his candidacy would be at least considered due to his seniority, eligibility, and the availability of openings in the highest court.
The chief justice of the PHC wrote in his letter: “I am writing to your Lordship with a heavy heart and a sense of disillusionment in relation to prima facie arbitrariness, discrimination and favouritism in the appointment of judges in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.”
He continued, expressing “utmost respect for your esteemed position and the principles of fairness and meritocracy that our judicial system purports to uphold” in bringing the matter to the CJP’s attention.
According to Justice Ibrahim, of the four SC openings, only one was filled by the appointment of Chief Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan of the Balochistan High Court at the time.
“I was deeply disappointed to discover that, despite there being four openings on the Supreme Court, just one judge—and that too from your own province—had been selected. He continued, “I sincerely rejoice for my brother, Mr. Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, but I wonder why, with my qualifications, seniority, and availability of Supreme Court openings, my nomination was not taken into consideration.
According to Justice Ibrahim, out of all the chief justices of Pakistan’s high courts, he is the second most senior.
“I am also a member of the Pakistani Supreme Judicial Council and the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP). I had a right to hope that my name would at the very least be on the list of candidates to be considered for an appointment to the Pakistani Supreme Court as a judge. He wrote, “I would have gladly accepted the JCP’s decision had I not been found fit to be appointed as Judge of the Supreme Court after due process by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan.”
He voiced the opinion that the CJP might feel compelled or perhaps required to quickly fill the positions given the significant backlog.
