JCP rejects CJP Bandial’s five nominees for top court elevation

ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on Thursday rejected the elevation of five high court judges, nominated by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, to the Supreme Court, ARY News reported.

Sources prior to the development told ARY News that CJP Bandial presided over the judicial commission’s meeting, where a total of five judges, two from the Sindh High Court and three from the Lahore High Court (LHC), were considered.

Four members of the commission voted in favour of the nominees while five members opposed the appointments, they said and added that Justice Qazi Faez Isa and the attorney general of Pakistan attended the meeting via video link.

However, according to sources, Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Tariq Masood, Attorney-General Ashtar Ausaf Ali, and Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar voted against all the five nominees.

The names of Chief Justice Peshawar High Court (PHC) Qaiser Rashid Khan, Sindh High Court (SHC) judges – Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui, Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto, and Justice Shahid Waheed of Lahore High Court (LHC) were considered to fill the existing vacancies.

The positions of Supreme Court judges fell vacant after the retirement of Justice Mushir Alam, former chief justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Maqbool Baqar and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel.

Justice Sajjad Ali Shah will reach superannuation next August.

It is pertinent to mention here that the JCP is responsible for approving the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and CJP heads the commission.

Recently, the meeting of JCP has become controversial as the legal fraternity accuses CJP of not following due process.

Earlier this week, Justice Qazi Faez Isa, one of the senior-most judges of the SC, raised objections over the summoning of a JCP meeting on July 28.