ISLAMABAD The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday disposed of all the petitions challenging the 'procrastination in the appointments of judges in the superior judiciary. A five-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Shakirullah Jan conducted the hearing of all the five petitions filed against the delay in judges appointment. Justice Rahmat Hussain Jaffery, Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, Justice Raja Fayyaz and Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali were the other judges of the bench. The court disposed of four petitions while the fifth petition was dismissed. This petition was filed by President Supreme Court Bar Association Qazi Muhammad Anwar, challenging the notifications issued by President Asif Ali Zardari to elevate Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khawaja Sharif as judge of the apex court and Justice Saqib Nisar as Acting Chief Justice of LHC. The bench also recorded the statement of Hamid Khan, who appeared before the court on behalf of Qazi Anwar. During the course of proceedings, Attorney General for Pakistan, Anwar Mansoor Khan, submitted his written statement before the court. The statement said, the Prime Minister met with Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Wednesday. In result of that meeting the process of consultation has been completed and the Law and Justice Ministry had issued notices for the appointment of 22 new judges in LHC and 9 judges in Sindh High Court last night, he added. He further requested the court to dispose of the petitions as they have become infructuous. Meanwhile, Akram Sheikh Advocate, lawyer of one of the petitioners, said 31 judges have been appointed but still there are several vacant posts. He said the government has failed to present the record of judicial consultations regarding the appointment of judges. However, the court disposed of the pleas. Meanwhile, the Attorney General claimed that the petitions filed in judges appointment case were based on ill intention. On this, Justice Jawwad S Khawaja directed the Attorney General not to use such kind of words. The court also disposed of the petition of Watan Party filed by Barrister Zaffarullah Khan, seeking reasons as well as explanation from the respondent (Federation) behind the delay in judges induction through the apex court. He later informed the media that he would again file a petition against the decision next week in the court. The court also disposed of the plea of High Court Bar Association, Rawalpindi, after hearing arguments of the Bar President Shehzad Malik Advocate. However, Shehzad also requested the court to record the AGPs statement as he had said that the judges appointment would be made in consultation with the Chief Justices of superior courts. Besides, the bench also dismissed the petition of one Tahir Farooq due to its non-pursuance. The bench also disposed of the petition of Punjab government as it had become infructuous after the issuance of letters for judges appointment in the superior courts. Khawaja Haris appeared before the court on behalf of the Punjab government. The petition of Khadim Nadeem Malik, which requested the apex court to take notice of the unnecessary delay in the judges appointment, had become infructuous. Finally, the notice, taken by the apex court soon after the issuance of directives by the President regarding elevation of the two judges of Lahore High Court, also met to its natural fate with the issuance of letters.