JCP forms panel to frame its rules

ISLAMABAD':

The newly reconstituted Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on Friday formed a committee to frame its rules as it deferred the process of considering nominations for appointment of additional judges to the Peshawar High Court (PHC) and the Sindh High Court (SHC) till December 21.

The JCP, the constitutional body responsible for elevation of judges to superior judiciary, met under the chairmanship of Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi.

A couple of days earlier, Supreme Court's senior puisne judge Syed Mansoor Ali Shah had urged CJ Afridi in a letter to defer the JCP meeting and first form a full court to address the petitions filed against the 26th Constitutional Amendment, which resulted in the reconstitution of the JCP

The judge had also highlighted the fact that the reconstituted JCP could not consider nomination of judges for appointment in higher courts until formulation of its rules.

The CJ did not postpone the JCP meeting in which Justice Shah also participated. However, the commission did form a five-member committee to frame rules relating to regulating its procedure including the procedure and criteria for assessment, evaluation and fitness for appointment of judges

According to a press release issued after the meeting, the commission authorized the JCP chairman—CJ Afridi—to nominate members out of the commission for the purpose of constituting the committee.

Justice Afiridi later constituted the five-member committee led by Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail to undertake drafting the rules and sharing them with the JCP secretariat by December 15.

The committee also includes Attorney-General for Pakistan Mansoor Awan, Senator Ali Zafar of the PTI, Senator Farooq Hamid Naek of the PPP and Akhtar Hussain, a senior advocate.

The commission also approved the nomination of Supreme Court judge Shahid Bilal Hassan for the Constitutional Bench (CB) of the Supreme Court. The JCP (Sindh) nominated Justice Adnan-ul-Karim Memon and Justice Agha Faisal as judges of the CB of the SHC by a majority vote.

The JCP for the Peshawar High Court deferred the agenda of appointment of additional judges to the PHC till December 21. It also decided to extend the date of submission of nominations for appointment of additional judges till December 10.

The JCP for the Sindh High Court also deferred the agenda for appointment of additional judges for the provincial high court till December 21 while also extending the date of submission of nominations for appointment of additional judges till December 10.

Earlier, in a joint preliminary meeting, the commission received a detailed presentation from the IT experts in using technology in order to reduce the massive paper load involved in its decision-making process.

"The CJ informed the participants that the move is intended to reduce the burden of the secretariat and members of the commission. The members of the commission appreciated the efforts and agreed to switch to the technology gradually for ease of the members," it added.

According to sources, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah stated during the meeting that in his letter to the CJ, he had suggested scheduling the hearing of the 26th Amendment before a full court.

In response, CJ Afridi said that the JCP does not have the authority to deliberate on the matter of scheduling the 26th Amendment for a hearing.

"Following the 26th Amendment, the authority to schedule constitutional cases for hearing lies with the three-member committee of the SC Constitutional Bench," the CJ said, adding that he had already responded to Justice Shah's letter.