ISLAMABAD: In a big growth signaling a marked departure from the established judicial hierarchy, the Judicial Fee of Pakistan (JCP) has formally notified separate interview committees to vet candidates for appointment as further judges in 4 excessive courts, with not a single Supreme Courtroom decide included in any of the panels.
The notification, issued on Wednesday and obtained by Daybreakinvokes Rule 10A of the Judicial Fee of Pakistan (Appointment of Judges) Guidelines, 2024, and bears the approval of the JCP chairperson — the chief justice of Pakistan.
The committees have been tasked with interviewing candidates nominated till July 4, 2026, for the Lahore Excessive Courtroom (LHC), Islamabad Excessive Courtroom (IHC), Sindh Excessive Courtroom (SHC), and Balochistan Excessive Courtroom (BHC).
Apparently, the composition of the 4 committees, whereas various barely of their judicial members, uniformly attracts its judicial power from both the Federal Constitutional Courtroom (FCC) or the respective excessive courts, conspicuously bypassing the Supreme Courtroom.
For the LHC and the IHC, the identical seven-member panel has been constituted. FCC Decide Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi will chair each committees. The opposite members embrace LHC Chief Justice Aalia Neelum, IHC Chief Justice Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, Legal professional Normal for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan, Senators Farooq Hamid Naek and Syed Ali Zafar, and Supreme Courtroom Bar Affiliation consultant Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon.
For the SHC, the chairmanship has been assigned to FCC Decide Aamer Farooq. The panel consists of LHC Chief Justice Aalia Neelum, SHC Chief Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput, together with the lawyer common, the 2 senators, and Bhoon.
An analogous composition has been notified for the BHC, with Justice Aamer Farooq once more serving as chairperson and BHC Chief Justice Muhammad Kamran Khan Malakhail changing the Sindh chief justice as a member. The remaining members are similar throughout all panels.
The notification comes in opposition to the backdrop of stalled judicial appointments in numerous excessive courts, which had remained in limbo because of the absence of revised guidelines following the twenty seventh Constitutional Modification.
The modification had empowered the fee to border guidelines regulating its procedures, together with the “process and standards for evaluation, interview, analysis and health for appointment of judges”.
Sources informed Daybreak that the JCP’s Rule-Making Committee had met on Could 6 to deliberate on the factors and process for appointments. The committee, comprising Justice Aamer Farooq, Legal professional Normal Mansoor Usman Awan, Senators Naek and Zafar, and bar consultant Bhoon, had mentioned a number of proposals.
It’s discovered that Senator Zafar had proposed that the complete JCP interview every candidate when his or her nomination got here earlier than the fee. Senator Naek, nonetheless, had instructed {that a} seven-member committee conduct interviews previous to the JCP assembly and submit suggestions to the fee. The ultimate notification displays that Senator Naek’s proposal was in the end adopted.
Sources additional disclosed that Bhoon had proposed a five-member committee comprising two judges from the FCC or the SC, one parliamentarian, the lawyer common, and a consultant of the Pakistan Bar Council. That proposal was not accepted in its unique kind.
