MIRPUR (AJK) - Appointment of judges in the superior judiciary in Azad Jammu Kashmir should be made in line with the procedure, set in the law and constitution of the State, Mirpur District Bar Association President Abdul Aziz Chaudhry emphatically stated.
He was talking to senior journalists in his office here on Saturday. The DBA president was flanked by Vice President of the Bar Ch Azhar, General Secretary Omer Abdul Rehman and members of the executive committee including Ch Muhammad Hanif and Ch Tariq Mahmood.
Aziz continued that consent of the chief justices of both the Supreme and High courts of Azad Jammu Kashmir for the appointment of any judge to the superior judiciary is prerequisite.
Elaborating the procedure for appointment of a judge in the superior judiciary, the DBA chief underlined that the AJK president can forward the matter of appointment of any judge to the superior judiciary only if the Chief Justices of both the apex and high courts unanimously recommend any name - as mentioned in the AJK Interim Constitution.
Referring to the recent appointment of five judges of AJK High Court, the DBA president said that since the above appointments did not involve consent of both the Chief Justices, these appointments have been challenged in the AJK High Court for allegedly lacking the set procedure mentioned in the law and constitution.
He said that the petition challenging the above appointment of the five judges to the AJKHC has been accepted for regular hearing by the learned High Court. Aziz said that at the same time, the Petition For Leave to Appeal (PLA) against the petition challenging the judges appointment has been filed in the AJK Supreme Court.
Ch Aziz pointed out that the matter of appointment of the judges in the superior judiciary cannot be forwarded to the President if both the Chief Justices are not agreed upon the induction.
Paying rich tributes to the heroic struggle of the people of Jammu and Kashmir for freedom, the DBA President called for immediate peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue under UN resolutions granting opportunity of the Jammu Kashmir people belonging to all parts of the state to decide their destiny under the spirit of international norms and commitments.
He said that Kashmir is not a territorial dispute. Rather it involved the fate of over 16 million people of the internationally-acknowledged disputed Himalayan state, he added.
Referring to the authorities plan to launch a grand operation for removal of encroachments from state land in Mirpur city, the DBA president suggested that before any such operation, the authorities should take to task the municipality officials including former Mayors, Chairmen, Estate Officers and other senior officials for making the allotments on such lands, violating the rules and regulations.
He said that the DBA is very much in favour of the restoration of Mirpur city according to the master plan on the orders of the apex court of AJK. “But how those allottees could be held responsible for such encroachments who were allotted and transferred plots by the competent authorities, he questioned.
He concluded the officials responsible of abusing the master plan of this scenic lake city located at the periphery of Mangla dam for the nourishment of their vested monetary interests, should be brought to justice through their open trial in the courts of law for misusing their powers during the course of allotments or transfers of the plots, he urged.