Islamabad: Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi has convened important meetings of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan on December 6 and 14 to appoint judges in the higher judiciary.
The December 6 meeting will consider the appointment of judges in the Peshawar and Sindh High Courts.
The Sindh High Court Chief Justice has recommended 12 names for additional judges, while the Peshawar High Court Chief Justice has recommended 9 names.
The schedule of this meeting also includes the inclusion of Justice Shahid Bilal in the constitutional bench. The December 14 meeting will consider the appointment of judges for the Lahore High Court and the Balochistan High Court.
In this meeting, the names of Muhammad Siddique Awan Advocate, Ali Masood Hayat Advocate, Hassan Nawaz Makhdoom, Aamir Ajam Malik, Zia-ur-Rehman Advocate will be considered for the Lahore High Court. In addition, the names of Muhammad Jawad Zafar and Advocate Owais Khalid will also be considered.
Similarly, the names of Muhammad Asif Advocate, Zahoor Ahmed Advocate, Muhammad Afzal Advocate and Muhammad Ayub Khan will be considered for the Balochistan High Court in the meeting on December 14.
Now, unlike in the past, the ruling parties Pakistan Muslim League-N and Pakistan Peoples Party have also succeeded in getting their candidates nominated for the higher judiciary.
Some of the names nominated for judges in the High Court are either directly involved in these parties or have connections with senior lawyers involved in these parties. This has become possible after the 26th Constitutional Amendment, under which the role of government parties in the appointments of judges has increased.
