Special Parliamentary Committee nominates Justice Yahya Afridi as next CJP: Tarar

The Special Parliamentary Committee (SPC) on Tuesday nominated Justice Yahya Afridi as the next Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said.

He made the announcement while speaking to the media after the meeting concluded.

The meeting was earlier scheduled for 4pm but faced a delay after members belonging to the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) refused to attend.

Current CJP Qazi Faez Isa is set to retire later this month. After CJP Isa, senior most judge Justice Mansoor Ali Shah was set to become the next CJP.

However, after the Constitution (26th Amendment) Act, 2024, a 12-member parliamentary committee was to select the new CJP from a panel of the three most senior SC judges.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, and Justice Yahya Afridi are the three most senior judges in the apex court. The SPC picked Justice Yahya Afridi from the three judges.

After the amendments, the term for the CJP has been set at three years.

As per the act, the parliamentary committee, consisting of 8 members from the NA and 4 from the Senate, will propose the name to the prime minister, who will then forward it to the president for final approval.

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A Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), led by the CJP and including 3 senior judges, 2 members each from the NA and Senate, the federal minister for law and justice, the attorney general, and a legal expert with at least 15 years of SC experience, will oversee judicial appointments.

Followed the Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024, NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq formed the SPC on Monday.

The SPC comprised of 8 NA members and 4 senators nominated by their respective parliamentary leaders.

According to the notification issued by the NA, the committee included Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz’s (PML-N) Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, Shaista Pervaiz Malik and Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar.

From the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Raja Pervez Ashraf, Naveed Qamar and Senator Farooq H. Naek are part of the committee.

Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) Hamid Raza, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Gohar Khan and Senator Ali Zafar, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) Rana Ansar, and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) Senator Kamran Murtaza were included in the SPC, as per the NA notification.