KP Bar Council goes on strike as SC ignores PHC judges for appointments

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council Tuesday announced a strike against the recent appointments and the non-consideration of senior judges of Peshawar High court (PHC) in the Supreme Court (SC), reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The Peshawar Judicial Commission announced a strike across the province as a protest against not considering the senior judges of PHC for deployments in the Supreme Court by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP).

The press release given by the KPK Bar Council Peshawar stated that the Principle of Seniority has been constantly violated by the JCP while making the appointments in the Supreme Court and the victims of this injustice is majorly and mostly the province of KPK. It even said that the adherence to the constitution and its principles is very seriously doubted as the 18th constitutional amendment states that all federating units have equal number of judges in the apex court.

The Federation of Pakistan and its constitution could only be adhered to in its true spirit by safeguarding the interests of all federating units (provinces) and the equal representation of all the provinces in the Apex court, said the press release.

The Peshawar bar council members unanimously demanded that the Federal Government propagates proper regulation of the law and grants equal representation to all provinces in the SC and makes appointments of equal number of judges from the provinces.

It was also demanded that the appointments in the SC by the JCP are carried out adhering to the principle of seniority and not on picking and choosing on the basis of personal wishes and likings.

The Peshawar Bar council also demanded that the parliamentary committee turns down the recommendations by JCP from Punjab and Sindh as they fall foul to the principle of seniority.