The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) elevated Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb to a permanent judge of the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday.
Presided over by CJP Yahya Afridi, the JCP held its first meeting following the passage of the 27th Constitutional Amendment and the establishment of the FCC.
The JCP had appointed Justice Aurangzeb as an acting judge of the Supreme Court in February after elevating him from the Islamabad High Court (IHC),
The forum also approved the elevation of Justice Zafara Ahmed Rajput as the chief justice of the Sindh High Court (SHC), and Justice Kamran Mullahkhail as the chief justice of the Balochistan High Court (BHC).
A press release issued later said the JCP constituted a committee comprising Justice Farooq, AGP Awan, Naek, Zafar and Bhoon to make draft rules under clause 20 of Article 175A of the Constitution.
The clause calls for the drafting of rules related to the annual performance evaluation of high court judges and to the period granted to a high court judge to improve their performance if it is found to be inefficient.
After the passage of the 27th Constitutional Amendment, changes were made to key constitutional and statutory judicial bodies.
Following these changes, SC’s Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail was included in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) and the Practice and Procedure Committee, while the FCC’s Justice Farooq was made a member of the JCP.
Among the three statutory bodies, the SJC is the top forum for judicial accountability that probes allegations of misconduct against judges, the Practice and Procedure Committee forms benches and fixes cases, and the JCP is responsible for appointing judges to the superior judiciary.
Meanwhile, the SJC also held a meeting and constituted a committee comprising Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Rizvi and Justice Aalia Neelum to draft rules for regulating its procedures and conduct of business under clause 10 of Article 209 of the Constitution.