- JCP meeting chaired by Justice Yahya Afridia, holds four consecutive meetings to make a decision on appointments of CJs
- Letters issued to PM’s principal secretary, informing about the nominations and requesting to forward the same to the president for their appointment
ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on Tuesday decided to allow the acting chief justices of all the four high courts to continue serving in the top roles, according to a statement issued by the Supreme Court.
The JCP, convened with Justice Yahya Afridi, held four consecutive meetings to make a decision related to the appointments and reached a consensus in each meeting to allow the acting chief justices to continue serving in the top roles, the SC statement said.
It added that subsequently letters were issued to the prime minister’s principal secretary, informing the government about the nominations and requesting the forwarding of the same to the president for their appointment.
The letters said that Justice Sarfraz Dogar was nominated as the new chief justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), Justice Rozi Khan Barrech as the chief justice for the Balochistan High Court (BHC), Justice Syed Muhammad Attique Shah for the Peshawar High Court, and Justice Junaid Ghaffar for the Sindh High Court (SHC).
Justice S.M. Atiq Shah, second on the seniority list of Peshawar High Court judges, was selected over other candidates, including Justice Ejaz Anwar and Justice Arshad Ali, after a thorough evaluation.
However, the appointment faced opposition from Supreme Court Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Munib Akhtar, as well as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Law Minister and two PTI-nominated JCP members.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah raised objections during the meeting, arguing that decisions on the 26th Constitutional Amendment should take precedence. Justice Munib Akhtar, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Law Minister, and the two PTI members supported this stance.
Despite the dissent, the majority vote secured Justice Shah’s appointment, with the President of Pakistan expected to issue a formal notification soon, followed by an oath-taking ceremony by mid-July.
On Saturday, President Asif Ali Zardari had already formally declared Justice Dogar the “senior-most judge” of the IHC, following the issuance of a revised seniority list by the Ministry of Law and Justice.
The development followed a ruling by the Supreme Court on June 19, upholding the constitutionality of transferring three judges from other provincial high courts and referring the matter of seniority determination to the president.
On Friday, five IHC judges had challenged the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the transfer of three judges—Justice Dogar from the LHC, Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro from the SHC, and Justice Muhammad Asif from the BHC.
President Zardari had also declared that the status of the transfer of all three judges would be permanent.
