The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on Monday named six high court judges for elevation to the Supreme Court, while lawyers in Islamabad staged protests, demanding that the moot be postponed.<\/p>\n
The JCP meeting comes amidst opposition voiced by four apex court judges and also follows the recent transfer of judges to the Islamabad High Court (IHC), which was opposed by five IHC judges.<\/p>\n
The JCP, which approves judicial appointments, will finalise appointments for eight vacant SC positions. Under the much-debated 26th Constitutional Amendment, the commission was reconstituted to include four members of the parliament.<\/p>\n
According to a press release issued by the JCP today, a meeting was held to consider the nominations for appointment of high court judges in the SC and, by a majority of its total membership, nominated six judges.<\/p>\n
The chief justices of all high courts except the Lahore High Court (LHC) were among the six judges chosen.<\/p>\n
These six judges are Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui, Justice Salahuddin Panhwar, Justice Shakeel Ahmad, Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim.<\/p>\n
The commission \u2014 also by a majority of its total membership \u2014 nominated Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb as the acting judge of the SC.<\/p>\n
Later today, while speaking on the Geo News programme Aaj Shahzaib Khanzada ke Saath, PTI Senator Hamid Khan Hamid Khan called the appointment \u201cunconstitutional\u201d, stating that \u201cit had no legitimacy\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not accept this appointment,\u201d Khan said, adding that his party had decided to challenge the decision.<\/p>\n
In response to the host\u2019s question that the senator\u2019s challenge would be heard by a SC Constitutional Bench, the senator said, \u201cThis has nothing to do with the constitutional court or Constitutional Bench,\u201d adding that a full court should hear their appeal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not workable. The situation developed in the Supreme Court, in the IHC, the SHC and the other high courts. The system cannot work like this,\u201d he said<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, lawyers gathered at various locations in Islamabad today, with the Lawyers\u2019 Action Committee staging a protest near D-Chowk. Meanwhile, the entry route to the Red Zone was closed off with several other roads also blocked.<\/p>\n
Holding an Urdu banner reading \u201c26th Constitutional Amendment unacceptable\u201d, the demonstrators raised slogans against it. They also chanted \u201cAzaadi\u201d (freedom) and \u201cLawyers\u2019 unity zindabad\u201d (long live lawyers\u2019 unity).<\/p>\n
Around 100 lawyers also gathered at Serena Chowk as the route to Nadra Chowk was blocked, a Dawn.com correspondent reported, adding that the Serena Chowk was also barricaded.<\/p>\n
Lawyers stage a protest walk in Islamabad on Feb 9, 2025. \u2014 screengrab from video via Umer Mehtab
\nLawyers stage protests In Islamabad against a JCP meeting and the 26th Amendment on Feb 10, 2025. \u2014 screengrab from video via Umer Mehtab
\nLawyers stage a protest walk in Islamabad on Feb 9, 2025. \u2014 screengrab from video via Umer Mehtab
\nLawyers stage protests In Islamabad against a JCP meeting and the 26th Amendment on Feb 10, 2025. \u2014 screengrab from video via Umer Mehtab
\nLawyers stage a protest walk in Islamabad on Feb 9, 2025. \u2014 screengrab from video via Umer Mehtab
\nMeanwhile, the metro bus service from Rawalpindi to Islamabad was partially suspended, with the capital administration \u201cciting security reasons\u201d.<\/p>\n
While the bus service from Rawalpindi\u2019s Saddar station to Islamabad\u2019s Faiz Ahmed Faiz stop was open, the service from there onwards to the Secretariat station was closed, a Dawn.com correspondent reported.<\/p>\n
Routes from the Serena, Express and Nadra chowks going to the Red Zone, which houses the country\u2019s parliament building as well as embassies and foreign institutions\u2019 offices, had been closed.<\/p>\n
The closure affected the flow of traffic, causing a jam and a long queue of vehicles waiting to enter the Red Zone from Margalla Road, the correspondent added.<\/p>\n
On February 3, the legal fraternity in Islamabad had observed a strike to protest the transfer of three high court judges to the IHC but it could not elicit a widespread response. The Karachi Bar Association had supported the strike call by staying away<\/p>\n
The lawyers\u2019 representatives had also held a convention at the Islamabad District Courts, opposing the 26th Amendment and demanding the cancellation of the JCP meeting today.<\/p>\n
Last month, the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) moved an application before the apex court through Advocate Muhammad Waqar Rana seeking postponement of the JCP\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n
PTI boycotts meeting
\nPTI Senator Ali Zafar, who yesterday called for the JCP meeting to be postponed, and party chairman MNA Gohar Ali Khan boycotted today\u2019s proceedings of the commission.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the media in Islamabad, Gohar recalled the letters written by some SC judges and Zafar and said he reiterated the PTI\u2019s request that the meeting be \u201cpostponed for a few days\u201d.<\/p>\n
PTI leaders Ali Zafar and Gohar Ali Khan speak to media in Islamabad. \u2014 via Umer Mehtab
\nHowever, Gohar added, as the JCP moot was not postponed, the two PTI leaders \u201cdid not participate in it\u201d.<\/p>\n
The PTI chairman noted that his party had remained a \u201cpart of the process\u201d of appointing judges despite opposing the 26th Amendment, under which the JCP was reconstituted to include more lawmakers.<\/p>\n
Speaking alongside Gohar, Zafar termed holding the JCP moot without resolving the issue of transfers to the IHC as \u201cinappropriate\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst, the courts must decide who is the senior most [judge of IHC], then we will participate in the JCP meeting and get our point of view on the record,\u201d the senator said.<\/p>\n
He further claimed that a delegation of the International Monetary Fund that was due to visit Pakistan \u201cwould like to see our objections\u201d.<\/p>\n
The transfer, SC appointments saga
\nEarlier this month, the commission sought nominations from all high courts, requesting a list of five senior judges from each.<\/p>\n
Initially, the IHC had forwarded the names of three judges \u2014 Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb \u2014 to the JCP because Justices Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri and Babar Sattar did not meet the minimum requirement of five years of service.<\/p>\n
However, as Justice Sarfraz Dogar was made the IHC senior puisne judge following his transfer there from the LHC, his name has also been sent to the JCP.<\/p>\n
Days before Justice Dogar\u2019s name was added, five judges of the IHC approached Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi and IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq to reclaim their seniority.<\/p>\n
According to the representation submitted by the judges, a judge takes an oath for the high court in which they are appointed. It further emphasised that according to the constitutional intent, a judge must take a fresh oath when transferred to another high court.<\/p>\n
Based on this principle, the seniority of a judge transferred to another high court should be determined from the date of their new oath.<\/p>\n
Four SC judges also raised similar concerns last week and are also seeking the postponement of today\u2019s JCP session until a decision is made on the petitions against the 26th Amendment.<\/p>\n
In their letter, senior puisne judge Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Ayesha A. Malik and Justice Athar Minallah had said that the only viable solution and option in the present circumstances to save the court\u2019s dignity was to postpone the JCP sitting.<\/p>\n
The opposition PTI in a letter also urged CJP Afridi yesterday to postpone the commission\u2019s meeting. The letter was written by Senator Ali Zafar who represents PTI in the JCP alongside party chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on Monday named six high court judges for elevation to the Supreme Court, while lawyers in Islamabad staged protests, demanding that the moot be postponed. The JCP meeting comes amidst opposition voiced by four apex court judges and also follows the recent transfer of judges to the Islamabad High […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5475,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5474"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5476,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5474\/revisions\/5476"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}