JCP appoints six SC judges amid PTI MPs, jurists boycott

• JCP meeting held to appoint high court judges to SC.
• Chief justices of all high courts except LHC nominated.
• IHC chief justice Aamer Farooq also elevated to SC.

ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) approved on Monday the appointment of six new judges to the Supreme Court amid a boycott by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers and two senior SC judges.

According to a press release issued by the JCP today, a meeting was held under the chairmanship of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi to consider the nominations for appointment of high court judges in the SC and, by a majority of its total membership, nominated six judges.

The chief justices of all high courts, except the Lahore High Court (LHC) were among the six judges nominated. These included Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui, Justice Salahuddin Panhwar, Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, Justice Shakeel Ahmad and Justice Aamer Farooq.

The Commission, also by majority of its total membership, nominated IHC's Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb for appointment as the Acting Judge of the Supreme Court.

Last month, the judicial commission rescheduled its meeting to Feb 10 from Feb 11 to consider filling eight vacant posts of judges at the apex court.

The JCP, which approves judicial appointments, was reconstituted to include four parliamentarians under the 26th Constitutional Amendment, bringing numerous changes to the judiciary.

Today's meeting was boycotted by PTI's Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Senator Ali Zafar, and two SC judges, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Munib Akhtar. The PTI chairman said that the meeting should have been postponed until the cases against the 26th Amendment were decided.

Earlier, four apex court judges, including two commission members, Justices Shah and Justice Akhtar, had requested the postponement of the session. Moreover, in his letter, Zafar had also asked CJP Yahya Afridi to put off the meeting.

Speaking to journalists today, Barrister Gohar said that the PTI had filed petitions against the 26th Amendment, which were still pending. However, since the meeting was not postponed, PTI chose not to participate, Barrister Gohar said.

Barrister Zafar, for his part, also maintained that the meeting should have been delayed until the seniority issue was resolved. He further said that the matter of seniority was also pending, but their concerns were not addressed.

"PTI has already outlined its future course of action," Barrister Gohar said, adding that they fully supported the lawyers' protest.

"Our objection was that the meeting should be postponed until a decision on the 26th Constitutional Amendment is made," he reiterated. However, a vote was held on this objection, and the majority decided to proceed with the meeting, he lamented.

Judges’ transfer saga

Earlier this month, the judicial commission sought nominations from all high courts, requesting a list of five senior judges from each.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) initially forwarded the names of three judges — Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb — because the other two judges, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri and Justice Babar Sattar, did not meet the minimum requirement of five years of service.

However, Lahore High Court’s Justice Sarfraz Dogar, along with two judges from the SHC and BHC, was recently transferred to the IHC. Following his transfer, the IHC administration revised its seniority list and designated him as the senior puisne judge. Therefore, his name was also sent to the JCP.

Following this transfer saga, five IHC judges raised the issue of seniority of judges and sent a representation to the IHC chief justice against the new seniority list and also sent a copy to CJP Afridi.

The judges argued that any transferred judge must take a fresh oath under Article 194 of the Constitution, which would place them at the bottom of the IHC’s seniority list. This would render them ineligible for immediate consideration for the position of IHC chief justice.