JCP appoints 12 SHC additional judges

Judge from minority community falls short by one vote

ISLAMABAD:

Although 12 names have been approved for their appointment as additional judges of the Sindh High Court, Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) has missed the opportunity to appoint a first judge from the minorities in the superior judiciary.

Since 18th constitutional amendment in 2010, there is no judge from any minority community in the superior judiciary comprising on Supreme Court as well as five high courts.

However, there was a hope that JCP would approve at least one nominee from minority community as additional judge of the Sindh High Court during the meeting.

Earlier, Sindh High Court Chief Justice Shafi Siddiqui had recommended two names from the minority community.

However, they were unable to get required votes in the meeting. One of them got eight votes in JCP meeting, falling short by one vote to become SHC judge.

Regarding the approval of 12 nominations for additional judges of Sindh High Court, Barrister Salahuddin Ahmed has said that PPP has won the Sindh High Court judges elections. "Future aspirants to judicial office must take note of this rather than worry about irrelevant considerations such as burnishing their professional credentials," he added.

Regarding the rejection of two nominees for SHC, Salahuddin Ahmed has said finer considerations like promoting diversity in the judiciary often have to be sacrificed in such hotly contested electoral contests.

Moiz Mirza Baig adv said that while the nominations approved by the JCP include prominent lawyers like Osman Ali Hadi, Jaffer Raza and Advocate General Hassan Akbar; the exclusion of lawyers proposed by the chief justice of the Sindh High Court and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah renewed concerns about the appointment process following the 26th Amendment.

Such concerns carry weightage by the fact that the judges nominated by the Chief Justice and Justice Shah includes names like Umer Lakhani, Obaid Ur Rehman, Zeeshan Adhi, Zeeshan Abdullah, Umaima Mansoor, and Atif Rafiq Chaudhary, all of whom are known for their integrity and legal acumen.

Another Karachi based lawyer says that he has practiced in SHC for now 25 years and does not recognize at least half of them. Only three to four stands out as good, he adds.

JCP by majority has approved the nominations of Tasneem Sultana DSJ, Khalid Shahwani DSJ, Osman Ali Hadi, Nisar Bhanbhro, Jaffer Raza, Hassan Akbar, Abdul Hamid Bhurgri, Jan Ali Junejo, Miran Muhammad Shah, Ali Haider Ada, Raiazat Ali Sahar and Fiaz ul Hassan Shah.