ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani and Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar met on Wednesday to discuss, among other matters, the thorny issue of the role of the parliamentary committee constituted under Article 175-A of the Constitution on the appointment of superior court judges.

Their meeting, which was held at the Supreme Court, also discussed issues related to judicial reform. They discussed in detail different aspects to bring reforms and underlined the need to conduct workshops of experts for judicial reforms so as to get suggestions and input on various issues, as well as concrete measures to update laws.

The parliamentary committee is a constitutional body that takes up recommendations of the judicial commission headed by the chief justice on the appointment or elevation of a judge to the superior judiciary.

Parliamentary committee on appointment of superior court judges nearly redundant, Rabbani concedes

Over the years, a perception has developed that the committee has become toothless in the wake of the powerful judicial commission, particularly in the wake of the 2011 SC judgement in the Munir Hussain Bhatti case.

According to legal observers, the verdict disturbed the equilibrium in favour of the judicial commission because it stated that the parliamentary committee would be considered “unreasoned and arbitrary” if it did not give reasons for not accepting the judicial commission’s recommendations on the appointment of judges.

Senator Rabbani took the upper house into confidence about his hour-long meeting with the chief justice after it took place. He said the chief justice expressed resolve for a fully functional Article 175-A during the one-on-one meeting.

The chief justice also stated, he said, that he was trying to address the flaws and shortcomings of the judicial system vis-à-vis speedy trials. The recommendations made by the Senate’s committee of the whole on judicial reforms were also deliberated upon.

The chairman conceded that the role of the parliamentary committee had become almost redundant, and the chief justice expressed the desire to remove bottlenecks in this regard.

The chief justice was aware that his predecessor – former chief justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali – had invited the committee on the appointment of judges over a cup of tea and expressed his intent to do the same.

During Wednesday’s meeting, the chief justice told Senator Rabbani that he would soon meet with parliamentary committee members.

According to a handout issued by the SC office, the chief justice and Senate chairman discussed issues of mutual interest related to judicial reform, particularly in the context of curtailing delays in the current justice system to as to ensure the expeditious dispensation of justice to the public at large.

The meeting was organised against the backdrop of a recent invitation by the chief justice to the Senate chairman to discuss judicial reforms.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2018