Judges' appointment delay sparks questions

ISLAMABAD:

A fresh constitutional impasse appears to be brewing over the appointment of 19 additional judges to the country's high courts, as President Asif Ali Zardari has yet to either approve the Judicial Commission of Pakistan's (JCP) recommendations or return the summary with objections, raising questions over the constitutional process governing judicial appointments.

While the Supreme Court has previously ruled that the president does not have the authority to reject nominations made by the commission, Article 175A(8) of the Constitution does not specify any timeframe within which the president must act on such recommendations.

The absence of a constitutional deadline has now emerged as a key issue amid the ongoing delay.

In two separate meetings, the JCP recommended the appointment of three additional judges to the Islamabad High Court, 10 to the Lahore High Court (LHC), three to the Sindh High Court (SHC) and three to the Balochistan High Court (BHC). It also recommended the confirmation of four additional judges of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) and a six-month extension in the tenure SHC Additional Judge Justice Khalid Hussain Shahani.

However, Justice Khalid Hussain Shahani's tenure as an additional judge expired on July 28 without the recommended extension taking effect.

Legal circles believe that the current impasse could eventually be challenged before a high court.

Such litigation, they say, could also raise a broader constitutional question regarding whether a statutory or constitutional time limit should be prescribed for the president to decide on summaries forwarded by the JCP.

The issue has gained added urgency in the case of the PHC, where Justices Inamullah Khan, Sibghatullah Khan, Aurangzeb and Farrukh Jamshed were appointed as additional judges on Feb 4, 2025.