Judicial commission recommends reappointment of two SC judges

Proposal has been made under Article 182 of Constitution, which allows CJP to appoint ex-judges

ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) approved on Thursday names of two retired judges for reappointment in the apex court for a year on ad-hoc basis.

The approval comes after a meeting of the JCP called by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali regarding the appointment of two ad-hoc judges in the Supreme Court (SC).

The JCP accorded the approval for reappointment of justice (retd) Tariq Pervez and justice (retd) Khilji Arif Hussain after majority of its members voted in their favour, informed sources told The Express Tribune.



During the meeting, Pakistan Bar Council representative Yasin Azad gave dissenting views over the reappointment as there was a consistent stance of the superior bars against appointment of judges on ad-hoc basis. However, a majority of the commission’s members favoured the reappointment, the sources added.

The reappointment of both the judges has been proposed under Article 182 of the Constitution, which says the CJP can, with the president’s approval, appoint a former judge if it is necessary to increase the quorum of judges of the apex court.

Justice (retd) Pervez, who reached superannuation in February 2013, is currently a member of the commission, which recommends the names of superior court judges. Before his current assignment, he served as the caretaker chief minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

Similarly, Justice (retd) Khilji, who retired in April 2014, was part of the bench that heard the Arsalan Iftikhar case in the SC. The last time an ad-hoc judge was appointed was 2011 when justice (retd) Khalilur Rehman Ramday was appointed.

Meanwhile, sources added, the JCP also approved the nomination of lawyers for their appointment as additional judges in the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

Earlier, the IHC chief justice had recommended Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Mian Gul Hassan Orangzaib for the said posts.



As per the IHC Act 2010, total strength of judges in the court is seven but presently only five judges are performing their duties. The IHC has been operational since January 2011 but the Islamabad Bar Association was annoyed with the superior judiciary for not appointing a capital-based lawyer as a judge of the high court.

With the proposed appointments, it will be the first time that an Islamabad-based lawyer, Kayani, will be appointed as a judge. Kayani was head of the IHC Bar Association until last year. The commission has also proposed the confirmation of IHC Justice Aamer Farooq.