— Six permanent, one acting judge appointed to apex court
— Lawyers, lawmakers observe boycott in protest to ‘illegal appointments’ of judges
ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission of Pakistan has approved the appointment of seven judges to the Supreme Court, including the elevation of the chief justices of three high courts, in a key decision expected to shape the country’s judicial landscape.
Among the nominees are Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Hashim Khan Kakar, Sindh High Court Chief Justice Shafi Siddiqui, and Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Aamer Farooq.
Justice Salahuddin Panhwar, Justice Shakeel Ahmad and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim have also been elevated to the Supreme Court. Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb of the Islamabad High Court has also been appointed as acting judge of the Supreme Court.
Their inclusion strengthens the Supreme Court’s bench with experienced legal minds from across the country.
The approval follows deliberations within the commission, which is responsible for vetting and confirming judicial appointments.
The revamped JCP met on Monday. It was expanded through the 26th Constitutional Amendment.
The 13-memner JCP is led by the chief justice of Pakistan, and includes four judges of the apex court, as well as parliamentarians from both treasury and opposition and others.
The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) convened on Monday to consider the elevation of eight high court judges to the Supreme Court despite calls from some judges and sections of the legal community to defer the meeting.
In the last few days, four Supreme Court judges and five IHC judges, besides JCP member Senator Ali Zafar, wrote separate letters to Chief Justice Afridi to postpone the JCP meeting until decisions on the pending appeals against 26th Amendment and the new seniority list of the IHC judges.
The All Pakistan Lawyers Action Committee (APLAC), 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.
The statement, signed by several former presidents and office-bearers of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and other bars, including Muneer A. Malik, Hamid Khan, Ali Ahmed Kurd, Qazi Anwar, Abid Zuberi, vowed to defend the independence of the judiciary.
Meanwhile lawyers have been divided on the issue of elevating judges to the Supreme Court.
Some argued that the process should be postponed until the court challenges to the 26th Constitutional Amendment are resolved.
The lawyers staged a protest in the federal capital city that led to the suspension of Metro bus services on several routes between Islamabad and Rawalpindi, causing significant inconvenience to commuters.
Authorities also sealed off the sensitive Red Zone in the federal capital in response to the protest.
