“Legislative committee did not discuss any amendment regarding judiciary in recent days,” says Attaullah Tarar
Islamabad
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar has clarified that the federal government is not considering any option to extend judges’ tenure, rebutting speculations that the federal government is planning to introduce judiciary-centric legislation in parliament.
Tarar made the statement amid rumours that incumbent government mulling amendments to extend the tenure of the judges and, make changes in the laws related to the top jurists appointments based on the principle of seniority.
The speculations gained attraction after it emerged that the federal government is reportedly planning to summon a joint session on August 28 to introduce key legislation.
When questioned about the constitutional amendments in the pipeline on Geo News programme ‘Naya Pakistan’, Tarar categorically rejected the rumoured plans of the federal government to extend the chief justice’s tenure.
He further clarified that no constitutional amendment could be introduced during a joint session of the parliament.
The federal minister added that there was neither any amendment pertaining to the judiciary under consideration nor the judges’ extension.
“Legislative Committee did not discuss any amendment regarding the judiciary in recent days,” he said.
The information minister said that the speculations were fictitious as President Asif Ali Zardari summoned a routine session of the parliament. He, however, confirmed that there was a chance for a joint session next week in which the legislators would take up some pending bills.
Tarar, the ruling PML-N leader, said that a debate was held on the judges’ extension a few months ago but it was not on the government’s agenda right now.
Clearing the air about the CJP’s appointment, the minister said that they were not considering any recommendation to issue a notification of the next chief justice’s appointment early.
