Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar has summoned a meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) to consider the confirmation of seven additional judges of the Lahore High Court (LHC).

Sources confirmed to Daily Times that the JCP meeting was scheduled to be held on May 4. Sources said that the agenda for the Peshawar High Court (PHC) judges had not yet been approved by the JCP chairman. The seven additional judges of LHC are: Justice Shahid Mubeen, Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem, Justice Raja Shahid Mehmood Abbasi, Justice Shehram Sarwar Chaudhry, Justice Muhammad Sajid Mehmood Sethi, Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfaraz Dogar and Justice Erum Sajad Gull.

Last year, the JCP had granted one-year job extension to the seven additional judges. According to rules, the additional judges will retire if they are not confirmed. According to Article 175-A , which draws the procedure of appointment of superior courts’ judges, the JCP will propose the names to a parliamentary committee, following which the president of Pakistan will approve the names. The Ministry of Law and Justice will issue the notification. The JCP, under the above said article after 18th Amendment, was formed under the chairmanship of the CJP, which comprises the law minister, four senior-most judges, the attorney general of Pakistan, a retired judge and a representative of the Pakistan Bar Council. The appointment procedure of superior court judges has been criticised by lawyers. In October 2016, the then chief justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali had formed a five-member special committee to consider amendments proposed by Pakistan Bar Council to the JCP rules 2010. In March 2013, the PBC had proposed a number of amendments to the JCP rules, calling for transferring discretionary powers on appointment of superior court judges from the chairman to the commission. The PBC had also sought to amend rules 2, 3, 6 and 8 of the JCP. It had demanded that before nominating judges, chief justices of the respective high courts should consult the representatives of the bar councils. Similarly, the Parliamentary Committee on Judges’ Appointment has not held any meeting since 2015 in protest against its conversion into a ‘rubber stamp’ entity.