JCP forms seven-member panels for high court judge interviews without SC judges

ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) has notified separate committees to interview candidates for appointment as additional judges in four high courts, with no Supreme Court judge included on any of the panels.

The notification was issued on Wednesday with the approval of the JCP chairperson, who is the chief justice of Pakistan, and was framed under Rule 10A of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (Appointment of Judges) Rules, 2024. The committees have been assigned to assess candidates nominated up to July 4, 2026, for the Lahore High Court (LHC), Islamabad High Court (IHC), Sindh High Court (SHC) and Balochistan High Court (BHC).

Panel composition

For the LHC and IHC, the JCP has constituted the same seven-member committee. It will be headed by Federal Constitutional Court Judge Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi. Its other members are LHC Chief Justice Aalia Neelum, IHC Chief Justice Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan, Senators Farooq Hamid Naek and Syed Ali Zafar, and Supreme Court Bar Association representative Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon.

A separate panel for the SHC will be chaired by Federal Constitutional Court Judge Aamer Farooq. Its members are LHC Chief Justice Aalia Neelum, SHC Chief Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput, the attorney general, Senators Naek and Zafar, and Mr Bhoon.

The BHC committee has also been placed under Justice Aamer Farooq. In that panel, BHC Chief Justice Muhammad Kamran Khan Malakhail replaces the Sindh chief justice, while the remaining members are the same as those on the SHC panel.

Although the committees differ slightly in composition, their judicial members have been drawn from the Federal Constitutional Court or the relevant high courts, rather than the Supreme Court.

Background to the move

The notification comes amid a slowdown in appointments in several high courts, which had remained pending because revised rules had not been finalised after the 27th Constitutional Amendment. The amendment authorised the commission to frame rules governing its own procedure, including the procedure and criteria for assessment, interview, evaluation and fitness for appointment of judges.

The JCP’s Rule-Making Committee met on May 6 to discuss the procedure and criteria for appointments. The committee comprised Justice Aamer Farooq, Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan, Senators Naek and Zafar, and bar representative Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon.

During that meeting, multiple proposals were discussed. Senator Syed Ali Zafar suggested that the full JCP should interview each candidate when a nomination came before the commission. Senator Farooq Hamid Naek, however, proposed that a seven-member committee should conduct interviews before the JCP meeting and forward its recommendations to the commission. The final notification shows that Senator Naek’s proposal was adopted.

Mr Bhoon had proposed a five-member committee consisting of two judges from the Federal Constitutional Court or the Supreme Court, one parliamentarian, the attorney general, and a representative of the Pakistan Bar Council. That proposal was not accepted in its original shape.