ISLAMABAD - Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khan Khosa on Tuesday expressed gratitude to Almighty Allah that there were no more criminal appeals pending at Supreme Court’s (SC) Peshawar Registry.
The chief justice made these remarks while hearing a case pertaining to alleged illegal appointments of Faizan Khan and Behzad Hussain at Hazar Khawani Primary School from SC’s Peshawar Registry through video link.
He said that these types of appeals had already been disposed of at SC’s Karachi and Quetta registries.
He said that Lahore Registry was SC’s next target where it was eyeing zero pendency of criminal appeals.
During the course of proceedings, the CJP observed that all appointments should be made in accordance with the law, and must follow a clear merit standard. Furthermore, he said, the appointments should be made after the verification of the candidate’s identity card and domicile.
The court noticed that the Peshawar High Court (PHC) had ordered the recruitment of Faizan Khan and Behzad Hussain merely on the basis of their domiciles.
The CJP asked, how could the PHC violate the law? “The law states that both the identity card and domicile of the candidate must be verified before his or her appointment,” he said, and questioned, “How could the PHC allow appointments by relying solely on the candidate’s domicile?”
The CJP remarked there was no valid procedure to verify a person’s domicile by simply sitting in the DC’s office. He said that the inquiry committee’s report had declared the appointments of these two individuals illegal.