PESHAWAR: Lawyers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday stayed away from court proceedings on the call of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council (KPBC) to protest changes in the recruitment procedure for civil judges, severely affecting judicial proceedings.
KP Bar Council Vice-Chairman Ahmed Farooq Khattak and Chairman of the Executive Committee Akbar Khan Kohistani rejected the government notification regarding the recruitment of civil judges, terming the decision to abolish the requirement of two years’ legal practice for Grade-18 appointments as unjustified and unacceptable.
They said the condition of two years’ practice as an advocate had been introduced after consultation between the KP Bar Council and the Peshawar High Court, but the government removed the requirement without consulting either the High Court or the Bar Council. The move, they added, had caused serious concern among lawyers across the province.
The bar leaders warned that such policy changes could pave the way for favouritism and nepotism in judicial appointments. They also demanded that promotion examinations be conducted for the elevation of additional session judges to ensure transparency and merit.
