Hameedur Rehman proposed for IHC CJ

Judicial Commission meeting recommends one year extension for three judges of Balochistan High Court.

ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission meeting, chaired by Chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry recommended a one year extension for three judges of the Balochistan High Court (BHC) on Saturday.

Recommendations for the extension in terms of Tahira Safdar, Jamal Mandu Khel and Muskanzai, will now be forwarded to a parliamentary committee for approval.

The Judicial Commission has proposed  the name of Iqbal Hameedur Rehman as the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court.

Sources say the commission discussed fresh nominations, and the confirmation of additional judges to the high courts.

The commission will hold another meeting to nominate six judges for the Islamabad High Court during the second week of this month.

Updated from print edition (below)

Judges’ appointment: Judicial Commission to meet today

The Judicial Commission is going to draw up recommendations for the appointment of the superior judiciary, as well as the nomination of the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) chief judge, during an important meeting on Saturday.

Sources told The Express Tribune that the commission headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry will also discuss other issues on the four-page agenda, including fresh nominations, as well as the confirmation of additional judges to the high courts.

“The ‘prime focus’ of the commission though will be on the nomination of the chief justice of the IHC,” the source said. “The commission will hold another meeting to nominate six judges to the IHC in the second week of this month.”

Other members of the commission are Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq, Law Minister Dr Babar Awan,  two senior judges of the Supreme Court Justice Javed Iqbal and Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Pakistan Bar Council member Dr Khalid Ranjha and Justice (Retd) Ijaz Chaudhry.

Justice Khawaja Sharif of the Lahore High Court (LHC), Chief Justice Sindh High Court Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa will also be attending the meeting.

For confirmation of appointment of judges to the high courts, the chief justices of the repective courts will be voting members of the judicial commission. Under the 18th amendment, for the appointment of the chief judge of IHC, all chief justices of the superior courts will have to attend the meeting.

To prepare the agenda, a sub-committee of the commission headed by Justice (Retd) Ijaz Chaudhry and two other members Maulvi Anwarul Haq and Dr Khalid Ranjha held a meeting on Friday evening.

“It is a four-page agenda, carrying names of dozens of judges whose names are being recommended to the parliamentary committee for final approval for their appointment to the superior courts,” the source added.

The Supreme Court had earlier, through an interim order,  allowed 32 additional judges of the high courts to continue working after expiry of their one-year tenure.  The court had added that the additional judges will hold their slots till the final judgment of the 18th amendment case.

A long list of senior judges has been proposed by the committee; this list includes the name of Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman, for the position of chief justice of the IHC. The 56-year-old judge of the LHC Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman is the son of former Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Hamoodur Rahman. He was appointed as a judge at the LHC on October 30, 2006 but refused to take oath under the PCO promulgated by former President Pervez Musharraf in 2007.

Today, the Judicial Commission will also prepare recommendations for the nomination and confirmation as additional judges of some 32 judges in all high courts.

One source also said that the commission will sit again for the nomination of judges to the IHC in the second week of this month; all chief justices of the superior courts will be present at this meeting.

Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry will attend the meeting because the sitting LHC Chief Justice Khawaja Sharif will reach his superannuation on December 8.

The Judicial Commission will send its nominations to the parliamentary committee for the appointment of judges.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2010.