Three high court judges, including Justice Athar Minallah, take oath as SC judges

• Out of its total strength of 17, Supreme Court is still short of two judges.
• CJP administers oath to Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Shahid Waheed and Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi.
• President Arif Alvi administers oath to Justice Aamer Farooq as IHC CJ.

ISLAMABAD: Three high court judges, including Justice Athar Minallah, took oath as Supreme Court judges on Friday.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial administered oath to Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Shahid Waheed and Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi.

Justice Rizvi was serving at the Sindh High Court, while Justice Waheed was serving at the Lahore High Court.

Justice Minallah was the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) before his elevation.

The three judges were administered the oath of office after the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), last month, had approved their elevation.

Before their oath, the apex court was short of five judges out of its total strength of 17. Now only two vacant posts remain on the top court’s bench.

During the JCP meeting, Justice Minallah's name was proposed unanimously, while Justice Rizvi and Justice Waheed were recommended by a 5-4 ratio.

Five seats fell vacant in the apex court upon the retirement of former CJP Gulzar Ahmed and justices Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Maqbool Baqir, Sajjad Ali Shah and Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed.

After the approval of the commission, the names of the approved judges were sent to the Parliamentary Committee on Appointment of Judges for final approval.

Justice Aamer Farooq takes charge as IHC CJ

Following Justice Minallah’s oath as a Supreme Court judge, President Arif Alvi administered oath to Justice Aamer Farooq to take over as IHC’s top judge.

The oath was administered at Aiwan-e-Sadar.

Justice Farooq’s appointment as the IHC CJ was approved earlier this month by the JCP as he was the senior puisne judge. The confirmation came a week after JCP had confirmed Justice Minallah’s elevation.

Under Article 175-A of the Constitution, JCP recommended the appointment and confirmation of the judges, whereas the Parliamentary Committee on Judges Appointment endorses these recommendations.