IHC demands federal government and law ministry clarify status of pending judges’ appointment summary.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) told the federal government and the Ministry of Law to submit written responses by Tuesday about the status of a summary that has been pending for months. The summary, forwarded by the prime minister after the Judicial Commission of Pakistan recommended appointments to the Islamabad, Lahore, Sindh and Balochistan high courts, has not yet been approved by President Asif Ali Zardari. Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, who heard the case, asked the Additional Attorney General Rashid Hafeez, "What is the federal government doing? Are you not interested?" and requested a brief report on when the prime minister sent the summary and whether any action was taken afterwards. Petitioner counsel Zahid Asif Chaudhry said that 18 days had passed since the summary was sent, exceeding the Constitutional 15‑day period for a president to act, and therefore the president could no longer keep the summary pending. The court directed the federal government and the Ministry of Law to explain the consequences of allowing the summary to remain pending indefinitely, and separately issued a notice to the Attorney General for assistance. The hearing was adjourned until the next day, with a final decision pending the government’s reports.