Justice Aminuddin nominated as head of constitutional bench 

ISLAMABAD: Senior Supreme Court judge Justice Aminuddin Khan has been appointed as the head of the 7-member constitutional bench formed by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan, ARY News reported.

According to a press statement issued after the meeting, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi nominated Justice Aminuddin as head of the constitutional bench by a majority of 7-5 members.

The JCP formed a seven-member constitutional bench including Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Ayesha Malik from Punjab, Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Jamal Mandokhel from Balochistan.

Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi from Sindh, and Justice Musarrat Hilali from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have also been nominated as members of the constitutional bench.

The sources said that CJP Yahya Afridi, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar and PTI members Omar Ayub and Shibli Faraz opposed the constitutional bench’s formation. However the decision was made with a majority of votes.

The Judicial Commission of Pakistan meeting was attended by enior Puisne Judge Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, and Justice Aminuddin Khan, Federal Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar, Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan, Pakistan Bar Council’s representative Advocate Akhtar Hussain, Pakistan People’s Party’s Farooq H Naik, PML-N’s Shaikh Aftab Ahmed and Roshan Khurshid Barrucha.

The meeting discussed the agenda items, including formation of constitutional benches and the setup of the Judicial Commission’s Secretariat.

PTI points of ‘lack of quorum’

According to the press statement, PTI’s Omar Ayub pointed out the lack of quorum during the meeting and said that one member of the commission is not present. The majority of the commission members maintained that the proceedings are in accordance with the constitution. The commission members declared that the proceedings can be continued even in the absence of one member

26th constitutional amendment

Under the constitutional amendment, the term for the Chief Justice of Pakistan has been fixed for three years.

A 12-member parliamentary committee will nominate the new Chief Justice of Pakistan from a panel of the three most senior judges.

The committee, comprising eight members from the National Assembly and four from the Senate, will propose the name to the Prime Minister, who will then forward it to the President for final approval.

READ: 26th constitutional amendment challenged in SC

Besides, a Judicial Commission of Pakistan, led by the Chief Justice and including three senior judges, two members each from the National Assembly and Senate, the Federal Minister for Law and Justice, the Attorney General, and a nominee of the Pakistan Bar Council, having not less than fifteen years of practice in the Supreme Court, will be responsible for appointments of the judges of the Supreme Court.