The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on Saturday approved the appointment of 10 additional judges to the Peshawar High Court (PHC). During a meeting chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi, the commission deliberated on appointing additional judges in the PHC, with 40 names initially under consideration for nine vacant positions.
However, after detailed discussions, the JCP approved 10 candidates for the positions. During the meeting, Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim reportedly advocated for the appointment of a tenth judge. Despite objections raised by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members, including Barrister Gohar, Ali Zafar, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Law Minister, the commission approved the appointments by majority vote. The decision comes amid a broader judicial debate over the appointment of judges in high courts.
A day earlier, judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had written to the president and the chief justice, expressing concerns over a reported move to appoint a judge from another high court as the next chief justice of the IHC. In the letter, the judges urged that the new Chief Justice be selected from among the three senior-most judges of the IHC rather than bringing in an outsider. They emphasised that appointing a judge from another high court without meaningful consultation and justification would be against established principles. Judicial sources confirmed that copies of the letter had been forwarded to the President of Pakistan, the Chief Justice, and the Chief Justices of the Lahore High Court, Sindh High Court, and Islamabad High Court. The letter reportedly questioned how the principle of seniority could be altered, noting that while the Lahore High Court has over 200,000 pending cases, the justification for bringing in an external judge remained unclear.