Swearing-in ceremony of new SC judges postponed

ISLAMABAD: The swearing-in ceremony of newly appointed judges of the Supreme Court has been postponed.

The oath-taking ceremony of the judges was scheduled to be held on Thursday (today). However, the Law Ministry’s notification of the appointment was issued in the wee hours of last night, which caused the oath ceremony to be delayed as well.

Notifications issued for Supreme Court judges’ appointments

The swearing-in ceremony of the new judges will now be held on Friday (tomorrow), the Supreme Court sources informed on Thursday morning.

Six new permanent judges and one temporary judge will be sworn-in to the Supreme Court tomorrow.

NEW APPOINTMENTS

On Monday, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi chaired the meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), which decided on the names of six new judges for the Supreme Court.

Justice Aamer Farooq among six judges elevated to Supreme Court

The official communique of the JCP meeting issued later showed that Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, Sindh High Court (SHC) Chief Justice Shafi Siddiqui, Balochistan High Court (BHC) Chief Justice Hashim Kakar and Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim have been elevated to the Supreme Court, along with SHC’s Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and PHC’s Justice Shakeel Ahmed.

Moreover, IHC’s Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb has been appointed as the acting justice of the apex court as well.

LEGAL FRATERNITY PROTESTS APPOINTMENTS

The JCP meeting was held amidst a protest staged by the legal fraternity of the IHC. The lawyers demanded that the appointments should be held off until the cases pertaining to the 26^th constitutional amendment are wrapped up.

Lawyers protest in Islamabad against appointments of SC judges

The protesting lawyers also raised concerns over appointments in the IHC from high courts of provinces, arguing that it impacts the seniority of the judges in the IHC. They said that these transfers of judges from other high courts to the IHC results in senior IHC judges being overlooked for elevation to the Supreme Court.

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