SHC additional judges: Commission approves four lawyers for appointment

ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) has unanimously endorsed four nominees for appointment as additional judges of the Sindh High Court, The Express Tribune learnt on Thursday.

The commission, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, met on Thursday to discuss the appointment of the Federal Shariat Court chief justice and the SHC additional judges.

Of the 10 nominations forwarded by SHC chief justice Maqbool Baqir, the JCP has approved only four lawyers, Amir Raza Naqvi, Syed Saeeduddin Nasir, Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro and Shahab Sarki.



The commission has dropped the matter of elevation of four district and sessions judges, Ghulam Qadir Laghari, Abdul Ghani Soomro, Syed Saghir Hussain Zaidi and Rashid Ahmad Soomro to the high court, while the name of a lawyer, Muhammad Hassan, has also been dropped.

Meanwhile, the matter regarding the appointment of NAB prosecutor-general KK Agha as an additional judge has been deferred because of his dual nationality.

The Sindh High Court currently comprises 29 judges against a sanctioned strength of 40. After the commission’s approval, the names will be sent to the parliamentary committee on the appointment of judges to the superior courts to give its consent. Subsequently, the names will be sent to the President for approval on the advice of the prime minister.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 9^th, 2014.