The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on Monday picked six high court judges for elevation to the Supreme Court amidst protests from lawyers seeking a deferral of the meeting.
Apart from the lawyers, four judges of the Supreme Court had also opposed the meeting. Two of these, Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Munib Akhtar, are also members of the JCP but boycotted the meeting after a majority rejected their demand for a deferral. Two representatives of the opposition—PTI leaders Gohar Ali Khan and Senator Ali Zafar—similarly boycotted the proceedings after their demand for no new appointments until resolution of seniority in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) was rejected.
Following the enactment of the 26th Amendment, a reconstituted JCP with equal representation of the government and treasury benches finalizes judicial appointments. In a press release issued after the meeting, the majority of participants nominated six judges for elevation to the Supreme Court. However, they deferred a decision on elevation of judges of the Lahore High Court.
The six judges picked for the Supreme Court are Justices Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui, Salahuddin Panhwar, Shakeel Ahmad, Aamer Farooq and Ishtiaq Ibrahim. The JCP further nominated IHC Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb as an acting judge of the Supreme Court to provide his expertise on pending tax cases.
Lawyers’ protests
Ahead of and during the meeting, lawyers gathered at various locations in Islamabad and demanded no new judicial appointments until the court had determined the legitimacy of the 26th Amendment. The protests resulted in road closures in the federal capital, hampering traffic.
The protests were muted, however, as several legal bodies issued a joint declaration stating they did not support them.
Judicial dissent
Earlier this month, the commission had sought a list of five nominations from all high courts of their senior judges for potential elevation to the Supreme Court.
Initially, the IHC had forwarded the names of three judges—Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb. However, it had expanded the list by one name, including Justice Sarfraz Dogar upon his transfer to the IHC from the LHC.
The move had attracted criticism from five judges of the IHC, who had approached Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi and IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq to reclaim their seniority. In a representation, they had argued that a transfer requires a fresh oath and as such any transferred judge’s seniority should be determined from the date of their new oath. In his ruling, the IHC chief justice has dismissed the representation, stating that there is no requirement of a fresh oath for high court transfers.