ABDUL SATTAR vs The JUDICIAL COMMISSION OF PAKISTAN arts — 2023 PLD 32 SUPREME-COURT

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ABDUL SATTAR VS The JUDICIAL COMMISSION OF PAKISTAN arts. 197 & 184(3)---additional Judges of the High Court not confirmed as Permanent Judges (petitioners)---Constitutional petition filed by the petitioners against their non-confirmation---Maintainability---Petitioners failed to establish the primary condition for the maintainability of their petition, namely, that any Fundamental Right of theirs had been infringed---additional Judges are only appointed for such duration as the President determines subject to any period prescribed by law---Currently no such law exists therefore it is the President who decides the period for which a person performs the functions of an additional Judge---as a matter of convention such period is one year, at the end of which the (Judicial) Commission may either confirm an additional Judge or grant him/her an extension or allow his/her term of appointment to expire---Since the confirmation of additional Judges is contingent upon the approval of the Commission, it cannot be said that additional Judges possess a constitutional tenure---Petitioners being additional Judges cannot on the strength of the doctrine of independence of judiciary and/or access to justice claim a right to be confirmed as Permanent Judges of the High Court---any decision to the contrary will render article 197 of the Constitution redundant---Similarly, additional Judges cannot also claim an extension of their term because no Fundamental Right under the Constitution confers such entitlement upon them---When the (Judicial) Commission as a whole was not in favour of recommending the petitioners for an extension of their term, the latter could have no reasonable ground to entertain a legitimate expectation to be confirmed as Permanent Judges---Present Constitutional petitions were liable to be dismissed for being not maintainable.

ABDUL SATTAR vs The JUDICIAL COMMISSION OF PAKISTAN arts — 2023 PLD 32 SUPREME-COURT

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