Lawyers call for local quota in IHC appointments

ISLAMABAD: Lawyers' bodies in the federal capital have called for Islamabad-based legal practitioners to be appointed to the Islamabad High Court (IHC), while saying they do not oppose provincial representation on the court.

At a joint press conference, representatives of the Islamabad High Court Bar Association, Islamabad District Bar Association, Pakistan Bar Council and Islamabad Bar Council said that after one judge is appointed from each province, the remaining vacancies should be filled from among lawyers enrolled with the Islamabad Bar Council. They also opposed the Judicial Commission's decision that vacancies arising from judges transferred to the IHC should be filled through further transfers instead of fresh appointments.

Concerns over district judiciary

The lawyers also repeated their demand for rotation in the district judiciary and raised allegations of corruption in the subordinate courts. Islamabad Bar Council member Raja Aleem Abbasi said the strongest complaints about corruption were coming from the district judiciary and alleged that bribery had become widespread there. He urged the IHC chief justice to take notice of the situation and said the integrity of justice in subordinate courts was being affected.

Abbasi said all district judiciary officials in Islamabad should be transferred. "If justice continues to be sold, people will lose confidence in the judiciary," he added.

He further said corruption was the judiciary's biggest issue and argued that integrity should be the primary consideration in judicial appointments. "A judge must be honest; we can teach him the law," he added.

He also called on the National Judicial Policy Making Committee to address the matter and warned that lawyers would hold a nationwide convention if what he described as their legitimate demands were not accepted.

Allegations of outside influence

Islamabad District Bar President Chaudhry Naeem Gujar said judges often stated they were acting under instructions from higher authorities. He alleged that the names of institutions were being cited to justify weak rulings and claimed that district judges were reluctant to accept transfers.

Gujar said that while there may occasionally be cases involving national security, references to institutions were, according to him, being made in nearly every matter.

He also alleged that political interference in the judiciary had risen sharply and claimed that political parties were influencing appointments and promotions in favour of preferred individuals.