PPP nominees fail to get JCP’s nod

Commission clears 19 appointments across 4 high courts; doesn’t select ant candidate below 45

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) failed to secure approval for any of its preferred nominees for appointment as high court judges, as the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on Wednesday cleared 19 appointments and confirmations across four high courts during meetings chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi.

The commission met in separate sessions to consider appointments to the Lahore High Court (LHC), the Sindh High Court (SHC), the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and the Balochistan High Court (BHC), while also taking up proposed amendments to the JCP (Appointment of Judges) Rules, 2024.

According to sources, more than 70 names were placed before the commission by its members. PPP's senior legal leader and JCP member Senator Farooq H Naek proposed 33 candidates, including 16 for the SHC, 10 for the LHC, five for the BHC and two for the IHC.

Read: JCP recommends appointments for three high courts

However, insiders told The Express Tribune that none of the PPP's preferred nominees secured the commission's approval. In total, the commission approved 19 candidates for appointment or confirmation across the four high courts.

For the LHC, the JCP confirmed Additional Judge Tariq Mahmood Bajwa as a permanent judge and approved the appointment of 10 additional judges: Amir Ajam Malik, Asad Ali Bajwa, Barrister Muhammad Usman Ghani Rashid Cheema, Ghulam Sarwar Nihang, Khalid Ibn-i-Aziz, Muhammad Ajmal Khan Zahid, Muhammad Amjad Pervaiz, Munawar Iqbal Duggal, Shiren Imran and Syed Farhad Ali.

For the BHC, the commission approved the appointment of District and Sessions Judge Allah Dad Roshan, Advocate Muhammad Rauf Atta and District and Sessions Judge Abdul Qayyum Lehri as additional judges against five vacant positions, leaving two seats unfilled.

Sources revealed to The Express Tribune that judicial politics played a key role in the appointment of BHC judges. Both district & session judges are close with two Supreme Court judges.  Even BHC Chief Justice Muhammad Kamran Khan Malakhail did not vote for their appointment.

Initially, Advocate Muhammad Rauf Atta was not recommended. However, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti requested the commission members to reconsider his nomination. Finally, the JCP approved Atta’s name by ten votes.

Also Read: JCP interviews judicial nominees

The commission had earlier approved three additional judges each for the SHC and the IHC.

Sources said the PPP leadership was particularly interested in securing the appointment of two nominees to the SHC. However, neither the judicial nor executive members of the commission supported their candidatures.

It is learnt that Senator Naek withdrew all of his proposed candidates except the two backed by the party leadership. The JCP, however, approved the appointment of Dr Shahnawaz Memon to the SHC on the recommendation of the SHC chief justice because of his expertise in tax law.

According to sources, the executive members were also interested in appointing a nominee who is the son of a senior PML-N leader in Sindh. However, PPP members of the commission did not support his nomination.

Similarly, executive members did not back any of Naek's nominees for the LHC, the IHC and the BHC.

Facing insufficient support from both judicial and executive members, Naek withdrew several nominations before the meetings commenced, while some remaining candidates failed to obtain the required majority.

 Interestingly, the commission did not approve any nominee under 45, despite Parliament lowering the constitutional minimum age for appointment as a high court judge from 45 to 40 through the 26th Constitutional Amendment.

The decision came despite the Karachi Bar Association recently seeking clarification from the JCP over reports of an informal understanding among commission members against appointing candidates below 45 years of age.

One commission member said that had the PPP not insisted on its two preferred nominees, it might have succeeded in securing the appointment of other candidates considered loyal to the party and belonging to interior Sindh.

The PPP also sought a six-month extension for the tenure of judges serving on the SHC's constitutional benches. JCP’s judicial members, however, agreed to extend the tenure by only three months.

Read More: CJs submit names for additional judges to JCP

Sources said the commission also decided to circulate proposed amendments to the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (Appointment of Judges) Rules, 2024, among the remaining members, including representatives of the Federal Shariat Court and the high courts, before final approval.

The non-confirmation of Additional Judge Syed Fiaz ul Hassan Shah of the SHC is also viewed as a setback for the PPP. Last year, the PPP had succeeded in influencing judicial appointments in several high courts, particularly the SHC, Peshawar High Court and LHC.

Following the 27th Constitutional Amendment, Justice K K Agha was elevated to the newly established Federal Constitutional Court, while another SHC judge was transferred to the IHC. Justice Munib Akhtar and two PTI members did not attend the JCP meeting.