Judicial Commission recommends 11 LHC additional judges to be made permanent

A meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan chaired by the Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umar Ata Bandial has recommended 11 out of 13 additional judges of the LHC to be made permanent.
The names of Justice Shan Gul and Justice Sohail were dropped. However, Justice Shakeel Ahmed, Justice Saddar Saleem Shahid, Justice Ahmad Nadeem Arshad, Justice Taqiq Nadeem, Justice Amjad Rafiq, Justice Abid Hussain, Justice Anwar Hassan, Justice Ali Zia Bajwa, Justice Sultan Tanveer, Justice Raza Qureshi and Justice Raheel Kamran were also proposed to be made.

Earlier in September, Supreme Court Senior Puisne Judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa urged Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial to summon the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) to consider the appointment of five judges to fill vacancies at the apex court.

Sources said that Justice Isa wrote another letter to the chief justice. He had questioned the delay in the appointment of five SC judges, in addition to highlighting the dates on which the SC judges were retired.

It is to be noted that former CJP Gulzar Ahmed retired on January 31, Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin on March 26, Justice Maqbool Baqar on April 4, Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel on July 13 and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah retired on August 13.

On July 28, the chief justice summoned a meeting of the commission to consider five appointments but the majority of the JCP members did not approve his nominees.

Later, it is learned that CJP Bandial held an informal meeting with the judicial members of the JCP to discuss the options with regard to filling vacant posts of the Supreme Court but failed to achieve a breakthrough.

Also Read

NAB amended law bearing fruit: Shehbaz and Hamza acquitted in money laundering case

A special court (central-I) on Wednesday acquitted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and...

Currently, three future CJPs are part of the commission. There is a need of the hour that high court judges’ elevation to the Supreme Court should be made by the JCP unanimously. Then, there is also a perception of mistrust between senior judges.

There is also strong support for the elevation of Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah to the SC. However, the ball is in the court of the CJP as he is the authorised person to propose the nominees and summon a meeting under the JCP rules.

He will either wait for an appropriate time or evolve a consensus within the JCP about the appointment of the five new judges. There is also a need that flexibility should be shown by both sides.

Justice Isa and Justice Sardar Tariq Masood in earlier their letter to CJP Bandial had stated that they had repeatedly called upon the chairman of the JCP to convene a meeting both before and after the summer vacations to enable nominations to the SC.

“To stress the urgency, we had stated that not filing the vacancies is a reckless disregard of a constitutional duty. But all to no avail. The Supreme Court cannot be placed in suspended animation till such time that the members use the words of the CJP ‘support the candidates proposed by the chairman,” it added.