ISLAMABAD: Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) nominated Justice Shahid Bilal as the member of the Constitutional Bench. He is the eighth judge appointed in the constitutional bench.
The three-judge committee, set up under Article 191A (4) of the Constitution, on November 13 noted that Justice Ayesha A Malik, a member of the constitutional bench, cannot hear the appeals since she was also part of the Supreme Court bench that had declared the military trial of May 9 violence suspects, unconstitutional.
The committee, headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, therefore, had requested the Commission to appoint another member of the constitutional bench for hearing of ICAs against the trial of civilians by military courts.
The JCP meeting was held on Friday under the chair of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi, which approved the appointment of Justice Shahid Bilal as member of Constitutional Bench of Supreme Court with majority votes. It also nominated Justice AdnanulKarim Memon and Justice Agha Faisal as judges of the Sindh High Court Constitutional Bench.
The commission deferred the appointments of additional judges in Peshawar and Sindh High Courts until December 21.
The sources said Justice Munib Akhtar, who attended the meeting through video-link abstained from voting for the nomination of Justice Shahid Bilal as member of the constitutional bench.
The sources said that during JCP meeting, letter of Justice Mansoor Ali Shah was also discussed.
Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, on Thursday, wrote a letter to Chief Justice Yahya Afridi expressing reservations on holding of Commission’s meeting today (December 6) to consider the nominations for the appointment of Additional Judges of the High Court of Sindh and the Peshawar High Court, and asked to postpone it until the fate of 26th Constitutional Amendment is decided by the Full Court of the Supreme Court.
He also wrote that the current Commission has been restructured and reconstituted under the 26th Constitutional Amendment, which has been challenged before the Supreme Court of Pakistan by numerous petitioners from diverse segments of society. Over two dozen petitions are currently pending before the Supreme Court in this regard.
The sources said that CJP/Chairman JCP Yahya Afridi opposed the proposal of full court for hearing of petitions against the 26th Amendment, adding that Constitutional Committee will decide when and how to decide the petitions against the constitutional amendment. The CJP stance was supported by the majority of the Commission’s members, sources said.
The commission deferred the appointment of nine additional judges for the Peshawar High Court. The names of District and Sessions Judges—Kalim Arshad, Farah Jamshaid, and Inamullah Khan—and six lawyers, including Junaid Anwar, Mudassar Amir, and Aurangzeb, Jawad Ihsanullah, Salahuddin, and Sadiq Ali will be considered in the next meeting.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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