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" SUPREME JUDICIAL COUNCIL A NEW ERA SUPREME JUDICIAL COUNCIL A NEW ERA   By   Akhtar Ali Kureshi, Assistant Advocate-General, Punjab   On 24th September, 2005, the Chief Justice of Pakistan presided over the meeting, of Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) which was not functioning for the last about two decades and representatives of legal fraternity were demanding of its restoration. The Chief Justice of Pakistan is taking good steps towards ensuring the justice to all segments of the society as earlier priority was set to those cases in which some kind of urgency was involved and arrangements were being made to level the backlog. Recent elevation of three permanent and two ad hoc Judges to the Supreme Court is another milestone to meet the full strength of august Court. All these steps are highly appreciable and no doubt have long lasting impact on our judicial system.   Under Article 209 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan; there shall be a Supreme Judicial Council headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan, two next senior most Judges of Supreme Court and two senior most Chief Justices of High Courts, presently the Chief Justice of Lahore High Court Mr. Justice Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhry and Chief Justice Peshawar High Court Mr. Justice Tariq Pervaiz Khan are members of the Council. A constitutional protection is provided to the Judges of Supreme Court and High Courts regarding their appointments and Judges of the higher judiciary shall not be removed from their offices except as provided under the Article 209. On the information received from the Council or from any other source if the President is of the opinion that a Judge of the Supreme Court or of a High Court is incapable of properly performing the duties of his office by reason of…