A five-judge bench led by Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and comprising Justice Tariq Parvez, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed was hearing the reference. Wasim Sajjad, Attorney General for Pakistan Irfan Qadir, amici curiae former Attorney General Makdoom Ali Khan and Khwaja Haris completed their arguments on Thursday.
During the course of proceedings on Friday, the Akram Sheikh, counsel for petitioner Advocate Nadeem Ahmed, contended that Justice Anwar Kansi was eligible to sit in the meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) even though the Commission recommended his appointment as the Chief Justice of the IHC. Sheikh further pleaded that determining the seniority of judges by the Ministry of Law violate the principle which separated the judiciary and the executive. He further contended that the composition of the JCP was lawful and the President did not have the authority to over-rule the JCP recommendations for appointment of judges.
Sheikh accused the Ministry of Law of deliberately issuing a notification on the seniority of Justice Riaz on October 10 with the objective of derailing the implementation of the JCP recommendation and Parliamentary Committee's approval for judges' appointment.