CJP forms body to draft criteria for CB judges

Mandokhail to lead panel; lawyers question delay

ISLAMABAD:

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi, in his capacity as the chairman of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), has formed a committee to draft an objective criterion for selecting judges for constitutional benches.

Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail will head the committee.

A notification issued in this regard stated that in light of the chairperson's decisions during the three JCP meetings held on February 28, the committee has been constituted to draft objective criteria for the appointment of judges under Clause (4) of Article 175-A of the Constitution and for the selection of judges for constitutional benches under Articles 191-A and 202-A.

The committee comprises Justice Mandokhail as its head, alongside Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan, Senator Farooq Hamid Naek (treasury benches), Senator Syed Ali Zafar (opposition benches) and Pakistan Bar Council representative Ahsan Bhoon. Niaz Muhammad Khan will serve as secretary of the JCP.

However, legal experts have questioned why the committee was not formed immediately after the passage of the 26th Amendment. Since the amendment's enactment, judges for the SC and Sindh High Court's constitutional benches have been appointed without a structured selection process.

SC's senior puisne judge, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, had previously called for establishing clear guidelines for nominating and determining the number of judges on constitutional benches.

"The commission has already nominated and determined a number of judges of the Supreme Court and the Sindh High Court for the CBs in the absence of any mechanism or criteria in place," said a nine-page letter written by Justice Shah to the JCP secretary in December.

"Therefore, there has been no logic or reason backing the nomination and determination of the number of judges for the CBs."

Justice Shah asserted that the nomination and determination under Articles 191A and 202A of the Constitution cannot occur in a vacuum, stressing that the JCP must first establish an objective criterion through the proposed rules.

"The extension of the existing CBs of the Supreme Court is coming up tomorrow. Hence it is imperative and obligatory on the JCP to formulate a mechanism and criteria for the nomination and determination of the judges for the constitutional benches in the general interest of the public."

Justice Shah suggested that the criteria could include the number of reported judgments of the judges on the interpretation of the constitution including dissents or additional notes on constitutional law that have been authored by the judge while being a part of a larger bench hearing important constitutional matters.