JCP proposes elevation of Justice Minallah, two others to SC

ISLAMABAD: In a major development, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on Monday recommended the elevation of Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah among three judges to the Supreme Court.

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial presided over the JCP meeting, which deliberated the elevation of four honourable judges to the top court.

At present, the apex court is short of five judges out of a total strength of 17.

After a detailed discussion, the meeting agreed to appoint IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi of the Sindh High Court (SHC), and Justice Shahid Waheed of the Lahore High Court to the SC, said well-places sources. 

Justice Minallah's name has been proposed unanimously while  Justice Rizvi and Justice Waheed have been recommended by a 5-4 ratio, the sources added.        

The JPC, however, deferred the proposal to elevate Shafi Siddiqui as the participants of the meeting could not agree upon his name, said the sources.

The sources privy to the matter added that Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Mansoor Ali Shah, and Pakistan Bar Council representative Akhtar Hussain opposed the elevation of Justice Shahid Waheed and Hasan Azhar Rizvi.

The recommendations of the JCP will be sent to the Parliamentary Committee on Appointment of Judges in Superior Courts for final approval.

In a July 28 meeting, the JCP had rejected the proposal to elevate Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Shahid Waheed, and Shafi Siddiqui to the SC.

Names of judges suggested by CJP rejected

In July 2022, the JCP rejected Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial’s nominated judges of high courts for their appointment to the Supreme Court.

CJP Bandial presided over the judicial commission’s session, where the names of a total of five judges, two from the Sindh High Court (SHC) and three from the Lahore High Court (LHC), were considered.

The chief justice, Justice Aijazul Ahsan, and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah voted in favour of the nominees, while Justice (retd) Sarmad Jalal Usmani voted in favour of three judges from the LHC and voted against the SHC nominees, sources said.

However, their votes were less in number as Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Tariq Masood, Attorney-General Ashtar Ausaf Ali, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and Bar Council representative 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 in the meeting.