Daily Islamabad POST had broken the news of the appointment of Justice Afridi as the chief justice of Pakistan. Justice Yahya Afridi is considered as a ‘neutral’ and the man who always goes by the book

Ansar M Bhatti

ISLAMABAD: A meeting of Special Parliamentary Committee, constituted for the first time in the country’s history for the appointment of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), recommended Justice Yahya Afridi as the new Chief Justice of Pakistan. Justice Yahya is No 3 in the seniority list.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Muneeb Akhtar stood at No 1 and 2 positions respectively in the seniority list. However, the committee, as it was expected, agreed on the name of Justice Yahya Afridi.

The PTI boycotted the process saying this since the committee came into being as a result of constitutional amendments passed in an ‘unlawful’ manner therefore they cannot be the members of the committee.

Government and the powerful circles did not want either Justice Mansoor or Justice Mubeen to become the chief justice of Pakistan because of their perceived anti-established and anti-government stance. There is also no dearth of people who believe that both these justices had a soft corner for the PTI, which, according to many jurists and legal experts, was an unfounded allegation. Both these judges, according to the legal experts, enjoy impeccable reputation and an elaborated professional career.

The first round of in-camera meeting of the parliamentary panel comprising government and opposition members held in the afternoon at room no 5 of the Parliament House. But the first session was called off because of non-participation of the PTI members.

Daily Islamabad POST had broken the news of the appointment of Justice Afridi as the chief justice of Pakistan. Justice Yahya Afridi is considered as a ‘neutral’ and the man who always goes by the book.

In a statement, the National Assembly Secretariat said that the SIC members have taken final decision not to attend the parliamentary panel’s meeting. “The committee has been apprised of the SIC’s decision.”

The secretariat noted that a sub-committee, comprising four members — Ahsan Iqbal, Rana Ansar, Raja Pervez Ashraf and Kamran Murtaza, was constituted to convince the SIC lawmakers to attend the meeting, “but to no avail.”

During their meeting with SIC members, the statement noted, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said that they would not attend the parliamentary committee’s session in line with the PTI’s political committee decision.

Meanwhile, Ahsan Iqbal — while talking to journalists — regretted the SIC’s decision and said that they left no stone unturned in convincing the PTI-backed lawmakers to attend the meeting.