The minister in a statement issued here on Sunday said the smear campaign is rampant on the social media designed specifically to undermine certain offices whose sanctity is sine qua non for the independent functioning of the justice system of the country.
He said that after the decisions in the Al-Jehad Trust, and Sajjad Ali Shah cases and the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution only the senior most judge of the Supreme Court can be appointed its Chief Justice. Mr. Justice Saqib Nisar being the senior most judge could have been appointed the Chief Justice, he added. He said the appointment of anybody else would have been a violation of the Constitution.
Khawaja Asif said the appointment of Mr. Saqib Nisar as an additional judge of the LHC was made on the recommendation of the Chief Justice of the LHC and in consultation with the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Ajmal Mian. At the time of this appointment the Al-Jihad Trust Judgement was already in the field and the advice of the Chief Justice was binding on the Executive.
He was confirmed as a judge of the High Court by President Musharraf in consultation with Chief Justice Irshad Hassan Khan, he added.
He said he was appointed to the Supreme Court on the binding advice of the Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry by the then President Asif Ali Zardari. At the time of his oath-taking, the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry praised him and applauded his contributions and sacrifices towards the cause of the independence and sanctity of the judiciary by acting independently and not giving in to the political desires of the government of the day, the minister maintained.
The minister said that Justice Saqib Nisar has now been elevated to the position of the Chief Justice of Pakistan strictly on merit and in accordance with Article 175A(3) of the Constitution which provides that the senior most judge be appointed as the Chief Justice of Pakistan.
The government or the PM has no role in his appointment, he added.