A 12-member Special Parliamentary Committee, formed to deliberate on the appointment of the next Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), will meet today (Tuesday) following its notification by the National Assembly Secretariat in light of the 26th constitutional amendment.
Under the amended Article 175A, the committee would conduct an in-camera meeting to decide who among the three senior-most judges would take the top slot for the next three years. In this regard, both opposition and treasury benches have forwarded names of their representatives in accordance with their respective strength in Parliament.
“… In terms of clause (3B) of Article 175A of the Constitution has been pleased to notify the Special Parliamentary Committee comprising members as per nomination by respective parliamentary leaders based on their strength in Parliament for the nomination of the Chief Justice of Pakistan,” read the notification. According to the notification, the committee comprises PMLN Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar; PPP Senator Farooq H. Naek; PTI Senator Syed Ali Zafar; and JUIF Senator Kamran Murtaza. Additionally, the committee includes PMLN MNAs Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal and Shaista Parvez; MQM-P MNA Rana Ansar; PPP MNAs Syed Naveed Qamar and Raja Pervez Ashraf; and SIC MNAs Gohar Ali Khan and Sahibzada Hamid Raza. However, a statement issued by the PTI’s political committee said its representatives would boycott the proceedings.
In today’s meeting, per sources, the first order of business would be the committee picking a chairman and setting out Terms of Reference. Under the 26th constitutional amendment, the committee must then pick the next CJP through a two-thirds majority. In the current scenario, the ruling coalition—with 4 lawmakers of PMLN; 3 of PPP; and 1 of MQM-P—possesses the required majority and is expected to finalize a candidate for submission to the prime minister. The amendment also requires the CJP’s appointment three days prior to the retirement of incumbent CJP Qazi Faez Isa, whose tenure ends on Oct. 25. As such, legal experts believe the name for the next CJP would be finalized within today’s meeting.
If the nominee opts against becoming the CJP, per the constitutional amendment, the committee would consider one of the other candidates within the panel of three under consideration. After the name of the chosen nominee is sent to the prime minister he would forward the same to the president for notification. The three candidates being considered are senior puisne Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Yahya Afridi.