JCP to meet today to nominate chief justices of IHC, SHC, BHC

ISLAMABAD, JULY 1 (DNA): The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) is scheduled to meet today (Tuesday) to appoint permanent chief justices for the Islamabad High Court (IHC), Balochistan High Court (BHC), and Sindh High Court (SHC).

The meeting will be chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi in his capacity as JCP chairman and will be attended by all commission members.

Currently, Justice Sarfaraz Dogar is serving as acting chief justice of the IHC, Justice Rozi Khan Barrech is acting chief justice of the BHC, and Justice Junaid Ghaffar is holding the same position at the SHC.

Meanwhile, Justice Kamran Khan Mulakhail, senior puisne judge of the BHC, raised objection over the repeated nomination of Justice (retd) Nazir Ahmed Lango to the JCP.

In a letter addressed to the JCP secretary, Justice Mulakhail stated that Justice (retd) Lango was nominated as a member of JCP for the appointment of Justice (retd) Ejaz Ahmad Swati as BHC chief justice.

Citing constitutional provision, he said that further nomination in absence of the BHC chief justice requires to be made afresh, requesting the JCP to nominate a new representative for the purpose.

Last week CJP Afridi chaired two consecutive meetings of the JCP, during which the top judicial body approved the extension of the Supreme Court’s constitutional bench tenure until November 30.

The meetings were held at the Supreme Court building in Islamabad, according to a statement issued by the apex court.

The JCP held two separate meetings to consider matters related to the constitutional benches of the Supreme Court, Sindh High Court (SHC), and judicial performance evaluations, the statement read.

In the first meeting, the JCP approved the extension of the Supreme Court’s constitutional bench until November 30, 2025. The commission also deliberated on a policy decision under Article 175A(20) of the Constitution concerning the annual performance evaluation of high court judges.

In the second meeting, the top judicial body, by majority, extended the term of the constitutional benches of the Sindh High Court (SHC) for six months, effective July 23, 2025.

As part of the changes, two new judges — Justice Adnan Iqbal Chaudhry and Justice Jaffar Raza — were appointed to replace Justice Agha Faisal and Justice Sana Akram Minhas.