News
Wednesday, January 09, 2013
Govt decides to file review plea in IHC judges’ case
By Hasnaat Malik
ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to file a review petition in the Supreme Court against its December 21, 2012, order for issuance of appointment notification of two Islamabad High Court’s judges with effect from the date of expiry of their earlier notifications.
Sources revealed to Daily Times that the government was already considering moving a review petition against the apex court’s December 21 short order, and is expected to be filed today (Wednesday). They said that the government was awaiting the detailed judgement, but after the filing of a contempt petition by Advocate Nadim Ahmad on the matter, it would file the review petition on the basis of the short order.
The Law Ministry can file for a review of the court’s short order until January 21. One section of lawyers contends that the Supreme Court may not fix contempt petition until that time. It has been learnt that the government’s legal team was already divided over the issuance of the notifications in view of the Supreme Court’s December 21 order regarding the appointment of the two judges.
It is worth noting that IHC’s Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui was hearing the case related to a three-year extension in the service of Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani. Likewise, there was a perception that the military establishment had expressed concern over the case; therefore, the government did not issue the notifications of these two judges and decided to file a presidential reference. The IHC registrar’s office on November 20 had cancelled the cause list of fixed cases, including an appeal filed against service extension of Gen Kayani, which was fixed for hearing before a two-judge bench of Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui and Justice Noorul Haq N Qureshi on November 22, 2012.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk