On Friday, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Ata Bandial, swore in the three newly appointed Supreme Court judges.
CJP Umar Ata Bandial administered oath to Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, a judge of Sindh High Court, LHC’s Justice Shahid and Justice Athar Minallah, of IHC.
Justice Rizvi served at the Sindh High Court, and Justice Waheed was a judge at the Lahore High Court.
However, Justice Minallah served as the IHC’s chief justice prior to his promotion. The oath was administered at Aiwan-e-Sadar.
Before their oath, the apex court was short of five judges out of its total strength of 17. Now only two vacant posts remain on the top court’s bench.
During the JCP meeting, Justice Minallah’s name was proposed unanimously, while Justice Rizvi and Justice Waheed were recommended by a 5-4 ratio.
Five seats fell vacant in the apex court upon the retirement of former CJP Gulzar Ahmed and justices Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Maqbool Baqir, Sajjad Ali Shah and Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed.
After the approval of the commission, the names of the approved judges were sent to the Parliamentary Committee on Appointment of Judges for final approval.
The ceremony was attended by senior judges of the SC, the additional attorney general, senior lawyers and others.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial had approved the elevation of three judges of high courts to the Supreme Court on November 9.
According to details, President Arif Alvi has signed the cabinet’s summary recommending to elevate the three judges to the Supreme Court. The President also approved the appointment of Justice Amir Farooq as Chief Justice Islamabad High Court (IHC).