Justice Aamer Farooq among six judges elevated to Supreme Court

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi on Monday chaired a meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) to pick six judges for the Supreme Court, as lawyers in Islamabad staged a protest demonstration demanding the postponement of the moot till the adjudication of pleas challenging the 26th Constitutional Amendment, earlier approved by the president following its approves by Parliament.

An official communique of the JCP meeting was issued.

The legal fraternity took to the streets in the capital in opposition to the appointment of judges from the Lahore High Court (LHC), the Peshawar High Court (PHC), and the Sindh High Court (SHC) to the apex court, arguing that senior judges from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) were being overlooked, and a decision on the identical pleas challenging the 26th Constitutional Amendment was yet to be made.

Despite the lawyers’ protest, the JCP approved the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court.

According to the communique, IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, SHC Chief Justice Shafi Siddiqui, BHC Chief Justice Hashim Kakar and PHC Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim have been elevated to the Supreme Court.

Justice Salahuddin Panhwar of the SHC and Justice Shakeel Ahmed of the PHC have also been approved for elevation to the apex court.

The meeting was held amid a concern raised by four Supreme Court judges and followed the recent transfer of judges to the IHC, a move opposed by five IHC judges.

The JCP is considered the names of senior judges, including chief justices from all four provincial high courts, for elevation to the Supreme Court.

Among those whose names were under consideration for the Supreme Court were IHC judges Justice Sarfaraz Dogar, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, alongside LHC judges Justice Aalia Neelam, Justice Shujaat Ali Khan, Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh, and Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan.

The PHC nominees also included Justice Ijaz Anwar, Justice SM Attique Shah, Justice Arshad Ali, and Justice Shakeel Ahmad, while the SHC list comprises Justice Muhammad Junaid Ghaffar, Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput, Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro, and Justice Salahuddin Panhwar. From the BHC, the names of Justice Muhammad Ejaz Swati, Justice Zaheer-ud-Din Kakar, and Justice Abdullah Baloch are being considered.

The judicial appointments have sparked controversy within the legal community, with concerns raised over transparency and the criteria for selecting Supreme Court judges. The final decision on the appointments is expected to shape the composition of the country’s top court in the coming years.