Govt notifies elevation of six judges to Supreme Court

• Law ministry notifies acting judges of thee high courts.
• Justice Aurangzeb notified as Supreme Court's acting judge.
• Development follows approval by President Asif Ali Zardari.

ISLAMABAD: Following President Asif Ali Zaradri's approval, the Ministry of Law and Justice has notified the appointment of six judges who were elevated to the Supreme Court from various high courts.

The notification relates to appointment of Balochistan High Court (BHC) Chief Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, Sindh High Court (SHC) Chief Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui, SHC senior puisne judge Salahuddin Panhwar, Peshawar High Court (PHC) judge Shakeel Ahmad, Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, and PHC Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim as SC judges.

The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), on Monday, had approved the said judges' appointment to the apex court during a meeting 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.

The judges' elevation issue was not left without controversy as four SC judges including Justice Shah, Justice Akhtar, Justice Ayesha A Malik and Justice Athar Minallah had written to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi urging him to postpone the JCP meeting "till the challenge to the 26th Constitutional Amendment is decided one way or the other".

This was followed by another letter by Senator Zafar calling for the deferment of the JCP huddle until the controversy surrounding the seniority of IHC judges was settled.

Meanwhile, apart from notifying the six SC judges, the government also issued the notification of the appointment of IHC's Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb as the SC acting judge in light of the JCP's decision earlier this week.

Whereas Justice Sarfraz Dogar — transferred from LHC — has also been notified as the acting chief justice of the same court with effect from the date he takes oath of his office, till the appointment of a regular chief justice.

Justice's Dogar's transfer and subsequent change in the seniority list of the IHC itself is not without controversy as seven IHC judges — Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Babar Sattar, Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Arbab Muhammad Tahir, Saman Rafat Imtiaz and Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb — had written to the CJP as well as high courts' chief justices against it.

Justice Kayani, Justice Jahangiri, Justice Sattar, Justice Ishaq Khan and Justice Imtiaz then further sent a representation to now-former IHC CJ Justice Farooq raising their concerns on the seniority issue.

Furthermore, the law ministry has issued the notification of BHC senior puisne judge Muhammad Ejaz Swati as the acting chief justice of the said court with effect from the date he takes oath of his office, till the appointment of a regular chief justice.

The law ministry issued the notification of the appointment of SHC judge Junaid Ghaffar as the acting chief justice of the said court with effect from the date he takes oath of his office, till the appointment of a regular chief justice.

The ministry issued the notification of the appointment of PHC judge SM Attique Shah as the acting chief justice of the said court with effect from the date he takes the oath of his office, till the appointment of a regular chief justice.