The head of the LHC proposes five judicial agents in service; Interviews will be conducted as per the modified rules.
ISLAMABAD:
Chief justices of four high courts have submitted their nominations to the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) for appointment of additional judges, as the process to fill vacant posts in the higher judiciary progresses.
The PCJ had invited nominations for 10 additional judges of the Lahore High Court (LHC), five of the Sindh High Court (SHC), five of the Balochistan High Court (BHC) and three of the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi, in consultation with chief justices, had sought nominations from all JCP members by July 4. The chief justices of the three high courts are known to have sent their nominations to the commission.
Of the 11 nominees for the LHC, Chief Justice Aalia Neelum has recommended the names of five serving bailiffs. Legal circles say this is perhaps the first time that the chief justice of a high court has recommended that such a large number of serving bailiffs be appointed as additional judges.
The legal officers recommended by the LHC Chief Justice are Advocate General Punjab Amjad Pervez, Attorney General Punjab Syed Farhad Ali Shah, Attorney General Islamabad Capital Territory Ghulam Sarwar Nihung, Additional Attorney General Munawar Iqbal Dugal and Deputy Attorney General Asad Bajwa.
The remaining nominees are Shireen Imran, Muhammad Ajmal, Kashif Rajwana, Usman Ghani, Ameer Ajam Malik and Khalid Bin Aziz. Interestingly, the two opposition members of the JCP did not recommend any candidate for appointment to the LHC.
“We have submitted names for the SHC but we have not been able to find anyone willing to appear in other courts,” said Senator Ali Zafar of the PTI, a member of the JCP. Many lawyers are known to be reluctant to give their consent to opposition members because they believe their nominations are unlikely to win commission approval.
After the 26th Constitutional Amendment, former SC judge Syed Mansoor Ali Shah had recommended several lawyers with strong professional reputations, but they failed to obtain the required majority votes in the PCJ.
Lawyers generally believe that without executive backing, appointments to the higher judiciary are difficult to secure. They argue that even candidates proposed by the chief justices cannot be approved unless they receive the support of the government in the commission.
For the SHC, Chief Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput has recommended five names.
According to sources, the nominees are Sessions Judge Suresh Kumar, Advocate Humayun, Advocate Sara Malkani, Additional Advocate General Zeeshan Adhi and former Additional Advocate General Saulat Rizvi.
The Chief Justice is learned to have once again nominated a candidate belonging to a minority community for appointment to the SHC. However, last year the PCJ lost the opportunity to appoint a judge from a minority community.
Since the 18th Constitutional Amendment in 2010, no member of a minority community has served as a judge of the Supreme Court or any of the country’s five high courts.
For the BHC, Chief Justice Kamran Khan Mulakhail recommended Saleem Lashari, Manzoor Shah and former Supreme Court Bar President Mian Rauf Atta. The names of Rehmat Barech, Amir Lehri and Mallag Dashti have also been forwarded for appointment as additional judges.
A prominent lawyer described Mallag Dashti as one of the best criminal law professionals in Balochistan and Sindh, noting that he belongs to the Makran Division. However, the Balochistan Bar Council has strongly protested against two of the nominations.
For the IHC, Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar recommended Umair Majeed Malik, former ICT Advocate General Ayyaz Shaukat and Central Special Judge Shahrukh Arjumand.
It is also learned that Pakistan Bar Council’s representative in the JCP, Ahsan Bhoon, recommended Wajid Gilani for appointment as a judge of the IHC and Shan Gul for appointment as a member of the LHC.
Under the amended JCP rules, a committee comprising JCP members will conduct interviews of all nominees before the commission proceeds with the appointment process.
