Appointments to superior judiciary: 10 out of 11 names approved by Panel

The parliamentary committee on judges' appointment has approved 10 out of the 11 names recommended by the Judicial Commission for appointments to the superior judiciary. The committee met here on Thursday with Senator Nayyar Hussain Bokhari in the chair.
After the meeting, Bokhari informed media that the committee unanimously approved 10 names for appointment to superior judiciary. Giving details, he said the committee approved elevation of Chief Justice Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Ejaz Chaudhry, Chief Justice Peshawar High Court (PHC) Justice Ejaz Afzal and Justice Gulzar Ahmed of Sindh High Court (SHC) to the Supreme Court. The names of justices Dost Muhammad and Sheikh Azmat Saeed were approved as chief justices of LHC and PHC, respectively, he maintained.
"Consensus, however, could not be evolved on former SHC judge Justice Athar Saeed's appointment in SC," Bokhari remarked. According to constitutional experts, however, the Parliamentary Committee has committed a grave constitutional deviation by not approving Justice Athar Saeed's appointment as a SC judge.
They derive strength for their argument from the Constitution which, inter alia, states: "The [Parliamentary] Committee on receipt of a nomination from the Commission may confirm the nominee by majority of its total membership within fourteen days, failing which the nomination shall deemed to have been confirmed:..." The committee approved confirmation of ad-hoc judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Muhammed Anwar Khan Kassi and Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan while recommendation for Shaukat Siqqiqui's and Azeem Afridi's appointments in IHC as judges were also approved.
Following the passage of the 18th Amendment to Constitution, there has been a change in the procedure for judges' appointment. According to the new procedure, the Judicial Commission headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan recommends the names for appointment in the superior judiciary while a bipartisan parliamentary committee approves or disapproves the Commission's recommendations.