Barrister Masroor Shah vs NWFP Bar Council And Another
This civil petition for leave to appeal was instituted before the Supreme Court of Pakistan by the petitioner against the judgment dated 10.04.2007 passed by the Peshawar High Court, which dismissed his writ petition under Article 199 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973. The petitioner, after obtaining a lower court license, applied for an exemption from the two-year practice condition to qualify for enrollment as an Advocate of the High Court pursuant to Section 27(c) of the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act, 1973. However, his application remained pending before the Administration Committee of the Peshawar High Court for more than one and a half years before being granted. The legal question concerned the prejudice caused to the petitioner's professional standing and seniority due to non-adjudication of the application within the prescribed six-month statutory period. The Supreme Court converted the petition into an appeal and allowed it, holding that the inordinate, non-attributable delay violated Rule 5.7 of the NWFP Bar Council and Legal Practitioners Rules, 1996, thereby unlawfully prejudicing the petitioner's seniority.
- Whether the failure of statutory authorities to decide an advocate's exemption application under Section 27(c) of the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act, 1973 within the prescribed time limit unlawfully prejudices seniority?
- Does inordinate delay in adjudicating an application under Rule 5.7 of the NWFP Bar Council and Legal Practitioners Rules, 1996 warrant judicial relief where the delay is not attributable to the applicant?
- Article 199, Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
- Section 27(c), Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act, 1973
- Rule 5.7, NWFP Bar Council and Legal Practitioners Rules, 1996
IJAZ-UL-HASSAN, J. - Through instant petition, Barrister Masroor Shah, petitioner, seeks leave to appeal against judgment dated 10.4.2007 passed by learned Peshawar High Court, Peshawar, dismissing Writ Petition No. 490 of 2007 filed by the petitioner under Article 199 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
2. The petitioner applied to respondent No. 1 i.e. NWFP Bar Council, Peshawar, through its Secretary, for grant of license to appear, act and plead as an Advocate of lower Courts, which was granted on 30.6.2001. The petitioner on 2.7.2001 submitted an application to respondent No. 1, claiming exemption from condition of two years practice before the lower Courts in order to qualify-for the grant of license to appear, act and plead as an Advocate of the High Court, under Section 27(c) of the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Act'). The application was forwarded to the Administration Committee of the Peshawar High Court, where it remained pending adjudication for more than one and a half years. Ultimately, the exemption sought was granted and license to practice law before the High Court was issued on 8.2.2003. The grievance of the petitioner in nutshell is that by reason of inordinate delay caused by the respondents in adjudicating upon the petitioner's application under Section 27(c) of the Act within the statutory period of six months as-enunciated by the law, the rights of the petitioner have been materially prejudiced.
3. We agree with the -petitioner that by reason of an inordinate delay caused by the respondents in adjudicating upon the petitioner's application within the statutory period of six months as enunciated by Rule 5.7 of the NWFP Bar Council and Legal Practitioners Rules, 1996, the petitioner's seniority in the legal profession has been adversely affected without any fault on his part. The delay is not attributable to the petitioner.
4. In view of the above, while converting this petition into appeal, we allow the same and set aside the impugned judgment dated 10.4.2007 of the Peshawar High Court, Peshawar.