LAHORE - Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah of the Lahore High Court on Thursday directed the federal government to issue a notification of Advocate Hafiz Shahid Nadeem Kahloon as additional judge of the court.  In 2013, the name of Advocate Kahloon was proposed by then Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and was considered by the JC in its meeting but after deliberation on the professional antecedents and legal acumen of the said advocate the Commission proceeded to recommend his name for appointment as judge of the LHC.
In terms of the constitutional requirements the recommendations of the Commission were placed before the Parliamentary Committee that held its meeting on Oct 25, 2013 and the rejected the recommendations of the Commission qua Hafiz Kahloon and approved rest of the six nominees for the slot of the judge. The petitioners argued that the parliamentary committee had no powers to reject the recommendations of the JC.
The Lahore High Court Bar Association Bahawalpur bench and Advocate Ch Abdul Ghaffar Bhuttowa had filed petitions against the government through Secretary Law and Parliamentary Affairs and the Parliamentary Committee on judges’ appointment.
The petitioners stated that refusal to endorse recommendations of the Judicial Commission (JC) on the ground that Hafiz Shahid Nadeem Kahloon was Hafiz-e-Quran, reflected upon the bias harnessed by the Parliamentary Committee against someone who had endeavored to learn the Holy Quran by heart.
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Justice Shahzada Mazhar of the Lahore High Court on Thursday requested the chief justice to fix the petition seeking registration of high treason case against Awami Muslim League Sheikh Rasheed and directions to stop PTI, PAT and PML-Q leadership from giving anti-state remarks to full bench on dharnas and azadi marches in Islambad. A local resident Imtiaz Goraya had filed the petition through his counsel Advocate Manzoor Butt.  As the proceedings commenced, the petitioner’s counsel requested the judge that a full bench headed by justice Khalid Mahmood Khan was hearing the same matter, so his petition be fixed before the full bench. The judge accepted his plea and requested the chief Justice to fix it before the full bench.
The petitioner through his counsel submitted that politicians were giving anti-state remarks. He said Sheikh Rasheed was prominent among them as he was provoking others to initiate anti-state movement in the country. He requested the court to direct the police to lodge high treason case against Sheikh Rasheed.
The petitioner further pleaded that other politicians, especially PTI Chief Imran Khan, PAT Chief Tahirul Qadri and PML-Q leadership should be stopped from giving anti-state remarks in their public meetings. He prayed that the federal government should be directed to hold talks with all above said parties. A full bench of the LHC headed by Justice Khalid Mahmood Khan had already been hearing petitions challenging long marches, dharnas in the country.