JCP meeting summoned for elevation of PHC CJ to Supreme Court  

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial has summoned a meeting of Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) to consider the elevation of Peshawar High Court (PHC) chief justice (CJ) to one of the vacant Supreme Court seats, ARY News reported on Saturday, citing sources.

Sources told ARY News that the chief justice has summoned the JCP meeting on June 14 to consider elevation of PHC CJ Musarrat Hilali to the apex court.

The JCP is a constitutional body that decides appointments to the apex court, high courts, and the Federal Shariat Court.

The commission is headed by the CJP, the next senior-most four judges, a former chief justice or SC judge, the law minister, the attorney general, and a senior SC advocate nominated by the Pakistan Bar Council.

Last month, Justice Qazi Faez Isa, the senior puisne judge of the Supreme Court, asked for an immediate meeting of JCP and suggested the names of chief justices of Sindh and Peshawar high courts to fill two vacancies of SC judges.

In a letter sent to all commission members, Justice Isa suggested that the vacancies should be filled immediately, and the names of the judges to be nominated should be recommended before time while considering the principle of seniority.

The JCP last time met in October 2022 when three judges were elevated to the apex court that too after a deadlock over ignoring seniority principle in picking the names of judges for their elevation to the apex court.