JCP approves elevation of Justice Ayesha to SC

The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on Thursday approved with a vote of five to four the nomination of Justice Ayesha Malik for her elevation to the Supreme Court.

She will be the first female Supreme Court judge in the judicial history of Pakistan.

Justice Ayesha is number four on the Lahore High Court (LHC) judge seniority list. She became a judge in March 2012. In case of her elevation, she will work as a Supreme Court judge until June 2031.

She could also become the CJP after the retirement of Justice Yahya Afridi in January 2030.

A meeting of the commission was held under the chairmanship of Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed.

The meeting continued for more than three hours wherein majority members urged to set criteria for the judges’ appointment.

Regarding nomination of Justice Ayesha Malik, Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) representative in JCP Akhtar Hussain confirmed that CJ Gulzar, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, retired judge Sarmad Jalal Osmani, Attorney General for Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan and Law Minister Dr Farogh Naseem endorsed her name for appointment as a Supreme Court judge.

Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and PBC representative Akhtar Hussain opposed her nomination.

Read more: Lawyers announce countrywide strike against elevation of Justice Ayesha

Four members insisted that criteria should be evolved for the appointment of superior court judges first, adding that the seniority principle should be followed for the appointment of SC judges. An insider revealed to The Express Tribune that none of the member raised any question on the competence of Justice Ayesha.

Earlier, the JCP considered her nomination in the month of September but consensus could not be evolved.

It is learnt that majority members including the AGP urged that criteria should be set for judges’ appointment by amending the JCP Rules, 2010.

Later, CJ Gulzar agreed that a committee consisted by JCP members would be constituted to lay down the criteria by amending the JCP rules.

Also read: Judge sets out reasons why he opposed Ayesha’s elevation

Earlier, the lawyers’ bodies requested their colleagues to boycott the court proceedings in protest against the elevation of a junior judge to the Supreme Court.

Now, the name of Justice Ayesha will be forwarded to the Parliamentary Committee on Judges Appointment, which comprises eight members.

Under the Constitution, six of the eight members are required for not endorsing any nomination within 14 days.

Former Sindh High Court Bar Association president Salahuddin Ahmed said that it is wonderful to see a woman elevated to the Supreme Court.

"It is, however, deeply disappointing to see that the Judicial Commission still remains resistant in framing any objective evaluation criteria for appointing judges and refuses to introduce any rules to check their discretion. That does not bode well for the six appointments that will be made to the Supreme Court this year," he added.

Earlier, the JCP had recommended the elevation of Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar to the SC. Similarly, the commission approved nomination of Sindh High Court Chief Justice Ahmed Ali Sheikh as ad-hoc judge of the apex court for one year. However, he refused to accept his elevation.