ISLAMABAD: Attorney General Anwar Mansoor told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that it had the jurisdiction to rule on a dispute relating to the appointment of the AJK chief justice.
In July last year, his predecessor Sardar Latif Khan Khosa had taken a diametrically opposed view before the apex court that it lacked jurisdiction to decide matters relating to the appointment of AJK judges because it was a sovereign state having its own president, prime minister, legislative assembly and speaker.
“I don’t agree with the concise statement submitted before the court earlier and I believe that it (SC) has the jurisdiction to intervene,” Mansoor told a bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Chaudhry Ijaz Ahmed and Justice Ghulam Rabbani.
The bench was hearing identical petitions about appointment of the AJK chief justice.
Justice Syed Manzoor Hussain Gillani of the AJK Supreme Court had filed the main petition seeking a declaration against the prime minister of Pakistan, who is chairman of the AJK Council, to approve a June 25, 2007, summary for his appointment as the chief justice.
The petition, filed through Advocate Akram Sheikh under Article 184(3) of the Constitution, sought issuance of directives to the prime minister to send a fresh advice for appointment of the petitioner as the chief justice of the AJK Supreme Court and a directive to the AJK president to act upon the advice instantly.
Mr Sheikh had also filed a concise statement on behalf of the petitioner contending that the apex court had the jurisdiction to hear the matter because it had territorial authority over the prime minister of Pakistan and all other authorities which processed and passed directives in case of appointments in the superior judiciary of AJK.
Their offices and secretariat were in Islamabad and they were bound to act in accordance with the laws of Pakistan as enunciated by the apex court, he said. He said the Interim Constitution Act of AJK had in fact been given by the government of Pakistan in discharge of its responsibilities under UNCIP resolutions and was practically a central act.
The court adjourned the matter for Wednesday and asked the attorney general to seek fresh instructions from the prime minister who should consider deciding the matter himself as the chairman of the AJK Council. www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/06-sc-can-rule-on-ajk-cjs-appointment-govt-720-rs-04
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