ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) meeting has begun under the chairmanship of Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi.
The JCP meeting today will finalise the appointments of additional judges for the Lahore High Court (LHC).
The names of eight session judges are under consideration for the appointment of additional judges in the LHC.
SC DISPOSES PETITION ON EXCLUSION OF VOTES
Earlier on Friday, the Supreme Court bench dismissed a case related to the exclusion of votes from the voters list. The five-member bench headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan heard the case, filed by a petitioner seeking to be given the right to vote.
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The petition relates to a Bengali resident of Pakistan; whose children have Pakistani National Identity Cards (NICs) but he himself has not yet been issued an NIC. In the plea, the petitioner claimed that the Election Act, 2017 is not legal. “I have been living in Pakistan since 1952,” the petitioner contended.
Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar asked the petitioner, “Do you have an identity card? Is your name no longer in the voter list?”
To this, the petitioner replied, “I am a Pakistani, I should not be called a foreigner”.
Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi pointed out that the petitioner’s children have Pakistan’s identity cards. “Bengali Pakistanis should not be discriminated against,” the court said.
Justice Jamal Mandokhail said, “The government did nothing about these citizens. When the country was divided, some stayed here and some [moved] there.” He also instructed that a policy be formed about such citizens.
Justice Mazhar said, “Several such cases have come up in the Sindh High Court. We had also given clear instructions about these citizens.”