ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) has notified Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Advisor to the PM Senator Rana Sanaullah Khan as members of the Treasury Bench of the JCP.
The secretary of the Commission, with the approval of the Chief Justice of Pakistan/Chairperson JCP, issued the notification on Friday.
The seats in the JCP became vacant following the resignations of Senator Farooq H Naek of the PPP and MNA Sheikh Aftab Ahmed of the PML-N.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who is also Leader of the House in the National Assembly, as well as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, who is the Leader of the House in the Senate, under paragraph (vii) of clause 2 of Article 175A of the Constitution, nominated MNA Bilawal Bhutto and Rana Sanaullah to the Commission.
The JCP meeting will be held on October 13 at the Conference Room of the Supreme Court to consider the extension of the term of the constitutional benches of the Sindh High Court (SHC). The current tenure of the Sindh High Court constitutional benches is scheduled to expire on October 25, making the October 13 meeting important for determining whether their tenure will be extended.
The constitutional bench in the apex court and the High Courts were created following the enactment of the 26th Constitutional Amendment.
Pursuant to the 26th Amendment, Article 175A was tweaked to include four members of the Parliament — two each from the treasury and opposition, one from the National Assembly and the other from the Senate.
The commission consists of chief justices of the Federal Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court, one next most senior judge each of the FCC and SC, and a judge of the FCC or the SC jointly nominated by the Chief Justice of the Federal Constitutional Court and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, for a period of two years; and a woman, non- Muslim or technocrat other than a member of the Parliament, who is qualified to become a member of the Parliament.
It also comprises the federal law minister, the Attorney General of Pakistan, and an advocate, having not less than fifteen years of practice in the Supreme Court, to be nominated by the Pakistan Bar Council for a term of two years.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026