Questions about validity of appointment of chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary
(Under age and ineligibility for the post of Baluchistan high court Judge)
Appointment as judge of the Baluchistan high court just like other appointments in the high courts elsewhere is a constitutional post , in other words its terms and conditions cannot be altered except by changing the constitution. The minimum age required for judge of high court in constitution is 45 years . Now here is problem .The learned Chief justice as per supreme court record bears the date of birth as 12th December , 1948 . So when he was appointed as judge of Baluchistan high court in the year first as Adhoc judge in November 1990 he was only 42 years and was not eligible at all . So this appointment was illegal and unconstitutional .
In service matters it is an established principle that anomaly of this type is a great shortcoming and in constitutional post it cannot be condoned by any authority . So his appointment to the post of chief justice stands challenged. Musharaf should be happy at this as this removes one case from his shoulder about removing judges.
The second point is that his first illegality also renders him liable to action and this was appointment as advocate general Baluchistan in the year 1989 prior to becoming a high court judge . The post of advocate general is again a constitutional post and has the minimum age of 45 years too and this though is appointed by the governor but person needs as a prerequisite to be eligible for high court judge , he at the time of this appointment was only 41 years . So appointment to that post which was also unconstitutional And was wrong which again disqualifies him for a judge.
His taking oath under Musharaf's PCO in 1999 might have been an effort on his part to attain some legality but since PCO is itself not part of constitution anymore or neither was before his oath so this defect in his appointment cannot correct itself. however only for a few years from 2002 onwards the induction age for both posts was 40 years which was again changed back to 45 years and since his induction did not fall in that period so this remains defective.
Zardari probably knew this so does Nawaz Sharif so will the chief justice now resign ? or explain why is he there on this post like a king !.
When will he hand over charge to the next senior judge is my question while this anomoly is investigated or he graciously accepts to appoint an inquiry commitee for himself . As they say the darkest spot is under the candlestick .
Sources :
Annual report of Supreme court (Stating CJ Age and biography)
The constitution of islamic republic of Pakistan 1973
(Under age and ineligibility for the post of Baluchistan high court Judge)
Appointment as judge of the Baluchistan high court just like other appointments in the high courts elsewhere is a constitutional post , in other words its terms and conditions cannot be altered except by changing the constitution. The minimum age required for judge of high court in constitution is 45 years . Now here is problem .The learned Chief justice as per supreme court record bears the date of birth as 12th December , 1948 . So when he was appointed as judge of Baluchistan high court in the year first as Adhoc judge in November 1990 he was only 42 years and was not eligible at all . So this appointment was illegal and unconstitutional .
In service matters it is an established principle that anomaly of this type is a great shortcoming and in constitutional post it cannot be condoned by any authority . So his appointment to the post of chief justice stands challenged. Musharaf should be happy at this as this removes one case from his shoulder about removing judges.
The second point is that his first illegality also renders him liable to action and this was appointment as advocate general Baluchistan in the year 1989 prior to becoming a high court judge . The post of advocate general is again a constitutional post and has the minimum age of 45 years too and this though is appointed by the governor but person needs as a prerequisite to be eligible for high court judge , he at the time of this appointment was only 41 years . So appointment to that post which was also unconstitutional And was wrong which again disqualifies him for a judge.
His taking oath under Musharaf's PCO in 1999 might have been an effort on his part to attain some legality but since PCO is itself not part of constitution anymore or neither was before his oath so this defect in his appointment cannot correct itself. however only for a few years from 2002 onwards the induction age for both posts was 40 years which was again changed back to 45 years and since his induction did not fall in that period so this remains defective.
Zardari probably knew this so does Nawaz Sharif so will the chief justice now resign ? or explain why is he there on this post like a king !.
When will he hand over charge to the next senior judge is my question while this anomoly is investigated or he graciously accepts to appoint an inquiry commitee for himself . As they say the darkest spot is under the candlestick .
Sources :
Annual report of Supreme court (Stating CJ Age and biography)
The constitution of islamic republic of Pakistan 1973
