Islamabad:
The president of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi, in his capacity as President of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), has formed a committee to write an objective criterion to select judges for constitutional banks.
Judge Jamal Khan Commandkhail will lead the committee.
A notification issued in this regard stated that in the light of the president’s decisions during the three JCP meetings held on February 28, the Committee has been constituted to write objective criteria for the appointment of judges under clause (4) of article 175-A of the Constitution and for the selection of judges for the Constitution under the articles of articles 191-A and 202-A.
The Committee includes Judge Commandkhail as her boss, together with the Pakistan Attorney General (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan, Senator Farooq Hamid Naek (Treasury Banks), Senator Syed Ali Zafar (opposition banks) and the representative of the Ahsan Bhoon Opcio College Council. Niaz Muhammad Khan will serve as JCP secretary.
However, legal experts have questioned why the Committee did not form immediately after the approval of the 26th amendment. Since the promulgation of the amendment, the judges of the constitutional banks of the Superior Court SC and Sindh have been appointed without a structured selection process.
The senior judge of Puisne of SC, Judge Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, had previously asked to establish clear guidelines to nominate and determine the number of judges in constitutional banks.
“The Commission has already nominated and determined several judges of the Supreme Court and the Sindh Superior Court for the CBS in the absence of any current mechanism or criteria,” said a nine -page letter written by Judge Shah to the JCP secretary in December.
“Therefore, there has been no logic or backup reason for the nomination and determination of the number of judges for the CBS.”
Judge Shah said that the nomination and determination under articles 191a and 202a of the Constitution cannot occur in a vacuum, emphasizing that the JCP must first establish an objective criterion through the proposed rules.
“The extent of the existing CBS of the Supreme Court will be presented tomorrow. Therefore, it is imperative and mandatory for the JCP formulating a mechanism and criteria for the nomination and determination of the judges for constitutional banks in the general interest of the public.”
Judge Shah suggested that the criteria could include the number of judgments reported by the judges about the interpretation of the Constitution, including additional dissidents or notes on the constitutional right that has been authorized by the judge, while it is part of a largest bank hearing important constitutional issues.
