JCP backs fresh high court appointments

ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on Monday recommended a set of appointments to the Sindh, Islamabad and Peshawar high courts, while also deciding the status of serving additional judges in the Sindh High Court (SHC).

Meeting at the Supreme Court under Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi, the commission took up the confirmation of additional judges, the tenure of SHC constitutional benches, and nominations for vacant slots in the high courts. According to the proceedings reported from the meeting, the JCP held three separate sessions from 2pm to 5:30pm and reviewed data forms, antecedents and other material placed before it before reaching its decisions.

Sindh High Court decisions

The commission, by a majority of its total membership, recommended that Justice Khalid Hussain Shahani continue as an additional judge of the SHC for another six months. However, it did not approve the confirmation of Justice Syed Fiaz ul Hassan Shah as an additional judge.

The JCP also considered the tenure of the SHC’s constitutional benches and, again by a majority of its total membership, proposed a three-month extension in their term.

For vacant positions in the SHC, the commission recommended three names for appointment as additional judges: Advocate Muhammad Humayon Khan, District and Sessions Judge Suresh Kumar, and Advocate Dr Shah Nawaz Memon. Two seats remained unfilled because the nominees under consideration did not obtain the required support from the commission’s total membership.

Islamabad and Peshawar recommendations

In the Islamabad High Court (IHC), where three vacancies were under consideration, the commission recommended Advocate Ayyaz Shaukat, District and Sessions Judge Shahrukh Arjumand, and Advocate Umair Majeed Malik for appointment as additional judges.

For the Peshawar High Court (PHC), the JCP recommended that four additional judges be made permanent judges. The four names are Justice Farah Jamshed, Justice Inaam Ullah Khan, Justice Sabit Ullah Khan and Justice Aurangzeb. The decision, like several others taken during the day, was made by a majority of the commission’s total membership after review of the available record.

Meeting attendance and nominations

The chief justices of the four high courts, along with other JCP members, had submitted nominations in advance for the appointment of additional judges in the country’s high courts.

Both Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Senator Barrister Syed Ali Zafar, the PTI’s representatives in the Judicial Commission, did not attend Monday’s meetings.