- With a two-third majority, Justice Yahya Afridi’s nomination has been sent to prime minister: Law Minister Tarar
- Defence Minister says two-third of nine committee members decided in favour of Justice Afridi after a ‘very good discussion’
- SPC comprises eight MNAs and four senators nominated by parliamentary leaders of political parties based on their strength in parliament
ISLAMABAD: The newly-constituted Special Parliamentary Committee (SPC) nominated Justice Yahya Afridi as the next chief justice of Pakistan amid the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) boycott of the committee meeting, announced by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar Tuesday night.
After the passage of 26th Constitutional Amendment, the committee was constituted to nominate the next CJP from among the three senior most judges of the Supreme Court judges. The two other judges in contention were Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Munib Akhtar. The members of both the PTI and Sunni Ittehad Council abstained from the SPC meeting.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Law Minister Tarar said: “With a two-third majority, Justice Yahya Afridi’s nomination has been sent to the prime minister.”
Elaborating further while speaking in an interview to a private TV channel, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said two-third of the nine committee members present had decided in favour of Justice Afridi after a “very good discussion”.
He maintained that all three judges under consideration were respectable individuals and hoped that any fissures in the judiciary would now come to an end.
CJP Qazi Faez Isa is set to retire as the top judge on October 25. Justice Shah was previously set to be the next CJP under the seniority principle.
Elevated to the apex court in June 2018, Justice Afridi will become the 30th CJP. In December 2016, he took oath as the youngest chief justice of the Peshawar High Court (PHC).
Born on January 23, 1965, Justice Afridi hails from KP’s Kohat Region. He also has the distinction of becoming the first chief justice of the high court from the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).
Justice Afridi was elevated to the high court as additional judge on Mar 15, 2010, and subsequently he was confirmed as permanent judge of the high court on Mar 15, 2012.
He was enrolled as an advocate of the high court in 1991 and that of the Supreme Court in 2004.
Before his elevation to the bench, he was a prominent lawyer running a famous law firm, Afridi, Shah & Minallah, which was established in 1997.
Among the two other associates of the firm were Justice Shah and Justice Athar Minallah.
Justice Afridi had done his LLB from Law College, Punjab University, in 1988, and did his LLM from Jesus College, Cambridge University, UK, in 1990.
He had also remained a good sportsman and had remained a member of Cambridge University Polo Team in 1990 and was awarded gold medal for best sportsman, Aitcheson College, Lahore, in 1982.
During his legal career, Justice Afridi appeared in several high-profile cases. Legal circles considered him a competent lawyer, who was well versed in constitutional and corporate law. He also served as assistant advocate general in his early career until 1994.
It was in 1993 when he got fame for successfully defending the government in cases pertaining to disqualification of several alleged drug barons from contesting the general elections. Several of those barons had challenged their disqualification in the PHC but their petitions were dismissed.
Following his elevation to the PHC bench, Justice Afridi also served as inspection judge for different districts. He also remained the chairman of the Labour Appellate Tribunal, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, company judge of the Abbottabad circuit bench, head of the KP Subordinate Judiciary Service Tribunal, chairman of the Enrollment Committee of Lawyers at Abbottabad Bench and Peshawar, and administrative judge of anti-terrorism courts.
The newly enacted 26th Constitutional Amendment has brought numerous changes pertaining to the judiciary, among which is the process of appointing the CJP.
Under amendments to clause 3 of Article 175A, instead of the president appointing the “most senior judge of the Supreme Court” as the CJP, the top judge will now be “appointed on the recommendation of the Special Parliamentary Committee from amongst the three most senior” SC judges.
Under a new clause 3C of Article 175A, the first nomination after the Amendment was in force is to be sent “within three days prior to the retirement” of the outgoing CJP.
This set the deadline for the SPC to send its nomination by tonight, as Justice Isa is to retire on October 25.
The SPC, which was formed a day ago by Speaker Sadiq, comprises eight MNAs and four senators nominated by their respective parliamentary leaders. Political parties have representation in the committee based on their strength in the parliament.
The committee comprised PML-N’s Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, Shaista Pervaiz Malik and Tarar; PPP’s Raja Pervez Ashraf, Naveed Qamar and Senator Farooq H. Naek; SIC’s Hamid Raza; PTI-affiliated MNA Gohar Khan and Senator Ali Zafar; Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan MNA Rana Ansar; and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl’s Senator Kamran Murtaza.
According to a notification issued by the NA secretariat, the in-camera meeting of the special committee was scheduled for 4pm.
Arriving for the meeting, Ashraf went inside without answering questions of reporters while Senator Murtaza said he had not yet received the names of the judges.
Meanwhile, Iqbal hoped that the next CJP’s name would be finalised today, adding that there was no “predecided” name and it would be discussed in the committee meeting.
Earlier, in a post on X, he quoted Greek philosopher Socrates to say: “Four things belong to a judge: to listen courteously, to answer wisely, to consider soberly and to decide impartially.”
None of the committee members associated with the PTI showed up for the meeting.
Talking to reporters outside the meeting room, Tarar said nine committee members were present, adding that as per the Constitution, eight people were required to make a decision regarding the CJP.
He added that it was also stated that the committee’s proceedings would not be halted if any seat was left vacant or a member skipped the meeting.
“The required number is present. But despite that, we are democratic-minded people and the beauty of democracy is in inclusiveness and everyone uniting.”
He said Sadiq, Ashraf, Iqbal, Murtaza and Ansar were requested to visit and compel the PTI-SIC members to reconsider and join the meeting.
“This is a major national issue so it is our wish … and we have decided to definitely make one attempt to request them to come and attend the meeting. We will reconvene the second session at 8:30pm again today.”
A press release from the NA secretariat said the sub-committee requested Speaker Sadiq to arrange a meeting, which he did so in his chambers between members of the sub-committee and Barrister Gohar.
“The SIC was invited by the NA speaker and members of the committee to participate,” the press release said, adding that Barrister Gohar told them that the PTI’s political committee had decided that he would not attend the proceedings.
Speaking to the media after the meeting in the NA speaker’s chambers, Barrister Gohar said the party had decided that the manner of the 26th constitutional amendment’s passage was unconstitutional and therefore the PTI would not participate in the proceedings of a committee formed as a result of the new legal reforms.
“I excused myself from participation. We will not join the committee. We are not going into isolation. We have already been participating and that is why we are sitting in parliament and its committees.”
The remaining nine committee members subsequently reconvened the meeting to pick the next chief justice.
Under the recent amendment, the committee would send the nominee’s name to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who shall forward the same to President Asif Ali Zardari for the appointment.
Another interesting contingency that has been provided for in the amendment is that of refusal or rebellion; a substitution in clause (3) of Article 175A, which details the nomination of the CJP from amongst the three most senior judges of the Supreme Court.
As per the amendment, in case the first nominee declines, one judge from the remaining two shall be nominated. If they too decline, the job may be offered to the third judge. And in case all three refuse, the next in the seniority line after the top three can also be brought into contention.
Justice Aminuddin Khan is the next most senior judge in the apex court after Justice Afridi.
The Karachi Bar Association has criticised the “non-transparent and hasty manner” in which the 26th Amendment was passed. It said there was no justifiable reason to deny the appointment of Justice Shah as the next chief justice.
Lawyers’ leaders have vowed to launch a protest movement against the Amendment along the same lines as the one in 2007.
