Three ex-judges among nine recommended for SHC appointment

Judicial commission also recommends confirmation of eight LHC additional judges

ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) has proposed the appointment of nine additional judges in the Sindh High Court.

The commission met on Saturday to consider the appointment of new additional judges in the SHC, as well as the confirmation of additional judges of the Lahore High Court. Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali chaired the meeting.

Sources revealed that the commission has recommended the names of Ghulam Qadir Leghari, Abdul Ghani Soomro, Muhammad Iqbal Mahar, Khadim Hussain M Sheikh, Zulfiqar Ahmad Khan, Mahmood Ahmad Khan, KK Agha, Anwar Hussain and Muhammad Faisal Kamal Alam for appointment as additional judges of SHC. The current strength of Sindh’s top court stands at 40.

These include three former SHC judges – KK Agha, Sheikh Khadim Hussain and Muhammad Iqbal Mahar – who had been removed after a brief stint by the apex court through its July 31, 2009 judgment. These judges were appointed on the recommendation of the ‘de facto’ chief justice, Abdul Hameed Dogar.

The reappointment of these judges is part of a broader effort to reconsider members of the judiciary, who were competent and honest but had taken oath under the restored Constitution.

Meanwhile, the commission also recommended the confirmation of eight additional judges of the LHC, as well as proposed a one- year extension for four additional judges.

The judges recommended for confirmation are Justice Arshad Mahmood Tabassum, Justice Muhammad Tariq Abbasi, Justice Chaudhry Masood Jahangir, Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan, Justice Ali Akbar Quraishi, Justice Shahid Karim, Justice Qazi Amin and Justice Mirza Viqas Rauf.

The tenure of Justice Khalid Mahmood Malik, Mushtaq Ahmad, Masood Abid Naqvi and Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal has also been extended for one year. Expressing reservations over the powers of the JCP chairman – the chief justice of Pakistan – the Pakistan Bar Council on March 15, 2013 submitted a proposal seeking the transfer of the chairman’s powers for appointment of judges to the commission.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2015.