ISLAMABAD According to sources who spoke to Geo News, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) submitted the names of three high court judges on Friday for consideration for elevation to the Supreme Court pending final clearance by the Parliamentary Committee.
According to the sources, the names that were suggested for appointment to open SC seats came up at a Judicial Commission meeting that Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa chaired.
According to the sources, the names of Chief Justices Malik Shahzad Ahmad of the Lahore High Court, Aqeel Abbasi of the Sindh High Court, and Justice Shahid Bilal of the LHC were put out at the meeting.
The JCP conference was called by CJP Isa last month to discuss the nomination of three judges to the SC.
The 18th Amendment’s provision for the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary led to the creation of the JCP.
It was assigned the responsibility of reviewing the nominations of nine judges, including the chief justices of the LHC and SHC, for the three open positions in the supreme court.
Judge Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahaya Afridi, Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Justice (retd) Manzoor Ahmed Malik, Federal Minister for Law Azam Nazir Tarar, Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan, and Pakistan Bar Council representative advocate Akhtar Hussain were among the JCP members expected to attend the meeting, which was chaired by the CJP.
The Constitution states that the Supreme Court should have 17 judges in total, however as of right now, there are only 14 judges, including the Chief Justice.