KARACHI, Dec 16: A division bench of the Sindh High Court issued notices to the attorney-general, the advocate-general and the respondents in a petition moved by the SHC Bar Association against transfer of power to appoint judicial officers from a selection board comprising high court judges to the provincial public service commission.
The petition came up for hearing before Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Justice Ali Sain Dino Metlo, who issued notices for January 14. Representing the petitioner, SHCBA President Rasheed A. Razvi and Secretary Munirur Rehman sought an interim restraint order but the bench observed that no fresh requisition for appointment of judicial officers had been made by the high court.
Citing the provincial and federal governments and the SPSC as respondents, the association says the impugned transfer of power militates against the independence of the judiciary and expresses the apprehension that political considerations will outweigh merit if the authority to appoint civil judges and additional district and sessions judges is transferred to an organisation whose members do not a secure constitutional tenure.
Saira Jatoi case
MPA Abid Hussain Jatoi, who allegedly headed a jirga at Shikarpur that declared ‘karo kari’ the free-will marriage couple of Saira Jatoi and Ismail Soomro, appeared before a division bench headed by the chief justice and gave an undertaking that the alleged jirga verdict would not be implemented. Other members of the jirga have executed identical personal bonds. Advocate Shafqat Ali Shah Masoomi, counsel for the petitioner non-governmental organisation Human Safety, said in reply to respondent police officers’ counsel M. Ashraff Kazi’s plea for shifting of the couple from the police headquarters, that the couple could not live together at Darul Aman, which was meant for women, or any other shelter for men. Further hearing was adjourned to Jan 21.
Order reserved
Another division bench comprising Justices Azizullah M. Memon and Khalid Ali Z. Qazi, meanwhile, reserved its judgment in a petition moved by a shareholder of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority against the award of a contract to extract and sell gas from the Qadirpur Gasfield to a Chinese concern. Advocates Raza Hashmi and Hasan Aurangzeb argued for the petitioners while Advocates Muneer A. Malik and Adnan Chaudhry represented the respondent concern. The petition was filed in 2006.
Bourse legal battle
More parties sought to join in the legal battle between the various components of stock market in the Sindh High Court on Tuesday as a division bench adjourned a petition moved by two ‘financier’ banks to Dec 24 for filing of comments by the respondents and a single judge decided to proceed with the suit instituted by the ‘financee’ brokerage houses on Wednesday.
The respondent Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), represented by Advocate Makhdoom Ali Khan, gave an undertaking that it would not make any order or issue any directive that may adversely affect the sanctity of the continuous-funding-system (CFS) contracts. The petitioner banks, the United Bank and the IGI Investment Bank, have challenged through Advocate Kazim Hasan the previous SECP directives that altered the terms of the CFS contracts to their detriment.
The brokerage houses which have filed a suit through Advocates Abdul Hafeez Pirzada and Muneer A. Malik, meanwhile, sought to be impleaded as interveners in the writ proceedings. Advocate Khalid Anwer filed power of attorney on behalf of the respondent Karachi Stock Exchange while Advocate Ijaz Ahmed appeared for the respondent clearing house, the National Clearing Company of Pakistan (NCCP).
The parties were advised to exchange their pleadings by Dec 24 when the petition would be heard by a reconstituted bench as Justice Khilji Arif Hussain expressed his inability to proceed. Justice Mahmood Alam Rizvi is the other member of the existing bench.
In the suit pending before Justice Gulzar Ahmed, UBL and other financial institutions sought to be made interveners through Advocates Kazim Hasan and Abid Zuberi. They also requested modification of the interim order in respect of the CFS contracts to direct the NCCP to collect margins from the brokers. The court issued notices to the parties for Wednesday.
The suit has been instituted by the brokerage firms of Al Hoqani and Creative Securities through Advocates A.H. Pirzada, Muneer Malik, Osman Hadi, Abdul Sattar Pirzada and Adnan Chaudhry. Advocates Khalid Anwer, Makhdoom Ali Khan and Ijaz Ahmed will represent the defendant SECP, KSE and NCCP, respectively. The plaintiffs’ counsel requested the court to treat the suit as ‘representative’ because other brokers wanted to join as plaintiffs.
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