ISLAMABAD, Aug 25 The Balochistan High Court Bar is likely to file a petition in the Supreme Court, requesting it to grant an interim relief and allow four Balochistan High Court judges, who are to retire on Sept 5, to continue their work in the larger interest of the litigant public till the SC decides cases challenging the 18th Amendment.

With petitions against the 18th Amendment being heard by the apex court, the government has not set up the two commissions needed to nominate judges as proposed in the Amendment because the method also has been challenged.

An informed source told Dawn that the Balochistan Bar Association was expected to move the petition before the Quetta Registry of the Supreme Court either on Thursday or Friday.

The source said that the petition was handed over to Advocate-on-Record Gohar Yaqoob Yousafzai for filing on Wednesday, but a controversy among top leaders of the bar association prevented its filing.

The controversy is about whether the petition should be moved independently by invoking the direct jurisdiction of the apex court under enforcement of the fundamental rights in Article 184(3) or an application should be moved before the court to become an intervener in proceedings on the 18th Amendment.

Those supporting the filing of independent petition cite an example of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry who had filed a petition (No 21/2007) before his own court against his suspension by former president Pervez Musharraf on March 9, 2007. The petition was approved by the Supreme Court by quashing the reference against the chief justice on misconduct and ordering his restoration.

The alleged foot-dragging by the federal government over the Balochistan High Court issue has forced leaders of the provincial bar association to hurriedly draft the petition because they believe the government is waiting for the SC judgment on the 18th Amendment before resolving the issue. Balochistan is not the only province where the crisis will surface on Sept 5. The Peshawar High Court and Lahore High Court will face similar situations on different dates next month, but their effects will not be as serious as in the case of the BHC.