ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) by majority of total membership nominated six judges of High Courts for their appointment as judges of the Supreme Court.
The JCP recommended the names of Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court (IHC) Aamer Farooq, Chief Justice of Sindh High Court (SHC) Shafi Siddiqui, Chief Justice of Balochistan High Court (BHC) Hashim Khan Kakar, Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court (PHC) Ishtiaq Ibrahim, SHC judge Salahuddin Panhwar, and PHC judge Shakeel Ahmed as the judges of the Supreme Court.
The commission also by majority of its total membership nominated Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, a judge of the IHC for appointment as the acting judge of the Supreme Court.
The meeting on Monday was held under the chair of Chief Justice of Pakistan/Chairman JCP Yahya Afridi for considering the nominations of judges for the Supreme Court in the SC Conference Room.
The Commission comprises four judges of the apex court, Federal Minister for Law and Justice, Attorney-General for Pakistan, a representative of Pakistan Bar Council, as well as parliamentarians from both treasury and opposition.
Four judges of the SC namely, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Ayesha A Malik, and Justice Athar Minallah, on February 7, wrote a letter to CJP Yahya Afridi requesting to postpone the appointment of judges in the Supreme Court till the challenge to the 26th Constitutional Amendment is decided one way or the other.
Additionally, a JCP member, Ali Zafar, also wrote a separate letter urging the chief justice to delay the new appointments to the apex court.
The JCP meeting was boycotted by PTI’s Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Senator Ali Zafar. Two SC judges, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Munib Akhtar also did not attend the meeting, said the sources.
PTI chairman Barrister Gohar told journalists “since the meeting was not postponed; therefore, the PTI chose not to participate.” Barrister Zafar maintained that the meeting should have been delayed until the seniority issue was resolved. He said the matter of seniority was also pending, but their concerns were not addressed.
Gohar said; “Our objection was that the meeting should be postponed until a decision on the 26th Constitutional Amendment.” “However, voting was held on this objection, and the majority decided to proceed with the meeting,” he added. The PTI chairman fully supported the lawyers’ protest.
The lawyers were divided on the issue of elevation of the judges to the Supreme Court. A section of the lawyers said that the process should deferred until the decision on the court challenges to 26th Constitutional Amendment, and the recent transfer of three judges to the IHC.
Pakistan Bar Council, the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan, the Punjab Bar Council, the KPK Bar Council, the Balochistan High Court Bar Association, and the Sindh High Court Bar Association supported all proceedings of the JCP, and approved the 26th Constitutional Amendment and the events that have followed, as part of the Constitution.
The All Pakistan Lawyers Action Committee, which represented the lawyers, who opposed the 26th Amendment, in a statement endorsed the demand of the four judges about postponement of JCP meeting and delaying the appointment of the new judges.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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