A Judicial Commission meeting chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi concluded with significant developments on judicial appointments and constitutional matters.
The commission postponed the decision on high court judge nominations until December 21, according to insider sources.
On the other hand, Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan was nominated by a majority vote as a constitutional bench judge for the military courts case. Additionally, Justices Adnan Karim and Agha Faisal were nominated as judges for the Sindh High Court's constitutional bench.
Sources said that the meeting also discussed fixing the 26th Amendment cases for hearing before the full court. Justice Mansoor Ali Shah mentioned hearing petitions against the 26th Constitutional Amendment through a full court. However, CJP Afridi opposed this suggestion, emphasizing that the constitutional bench committee will decide on the petitions against the amendment.
The majority of commission members backed the CJP’s stance, leading to the formation of a constitutional subcommittee to deliberate on the petitions against the 26th Amendment.
At the start of the meeting, the CJP informed the members about the letter written to him by Justice Shah, saying he had given his response on the matter. The sources quoted the CJP as saying that the Judicial Commission did not have the mandate to discuss the 26th Constitutional Amendment.
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The CJP is further stated to have remarked that the authority to schedule constitutional cases for hearing lies with the Constitutional Bench Committee. A member of the commission said the matter of making laws is of great importance, while a majority of the members opined that the issue of making laws for the appointment of judges will be decided by a subcommittee.
The Judicial Commission gave the authority to form a subcommittee to make laws to the CJP, sources said.
The commission was scheduled to discuss the appointment of 13 additional judges to the Sindh High Court and nine to the Peshawar High Court. Names of three district and sessions judges and six lawyers were under consideration for additional judges of the Peshawar High Court.
Kaleem Arshad, Farah Jamshed and Inamullah Khan were the district and sessions judges, while the lawyers under consideration included Junaid Anwar, Mudassar Amir and Aurangzeb. The names of advocates Jawad Ehsanullah, Salahuddin and Sadiq Ali were also supposed to be considered.
Justice Shah's letter
In a letter dated Dec 4, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah formally requested Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi, who is also the chairperson of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan, to postpone the meeting of the Judicial Commission scheduled for December 6, 2024.
The meeting was to consider nominations for the appointment of additional judges to the high courts of Sindh and Peshawar.
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In his letter, Justice Shah raised several constitutional concerns that necessitated the postponement. He highlighted that the legitimacy of the 26th Constitutional Amendment, which restructured the Judicial Commission, is still under challenge in the Supreme Court.
It said that over a dozen petitions against the amendment were pending, and a ruling against its validity would render any actions taken by the reconstituted commission, including the nominations/appointments of additional judges in various high courts, null and void.
Justice Shah stressed that proceeding with the appointments before the resolution of these petitions could undermine public confidence in the judiciary and waste resources.
