JCP approves Justices Rajput and Malakhail as SHC, BHC chief justices

The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on Tuesday approved a series of key judicial appointments, elevating Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb as a permanent judge of the Supreme Court and endorsing new chief justices for the Sindh and Balochistan high courts.

According to the 24NewsHD TV channel, the decisions were finalised during three separate commission meetings chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi. 

With Justice Aurangzeb’s elevation, the total number of judges on the Supreme Court bench has risen to 18.

The commission also approved Justice Kamran Khan Malakhail as Chief Justice of the Balochistan High Court and confirmed Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput as the permanent Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court. 

For the Sindh position, the commission had reviewed the names of three senior judges, Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput, Justice Iqbal Kalhoro, and Justice Mahmood A Khan, before deciding in favour of Justice Rajput.

All recommendations will now be sent to the parliamentary committee for endorsement, following which official notifications will be issued.

Profile of Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput:

Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput was born on October 16, 1965, in Hyderabad. He did his Bachelor of Arts at Government City Arts College, Hyderabad, an LL.B from Government Jinnah Law College, Hyderabad, and a Master's in International Relations from the University of Sindh. He also completed a one-year course in Islamic laws from the Shariah Academy, International Islamic University, Islamabad.

He was enrolled with the Sindh Bar Council as an Advocate in 1990 and became an Advocate of the High Court in 2001. He practiced law for three years before he was selected as a judicial magistrate in the year 1993. He was promoted as Senior Civil Judge & Assistant Sessions Judge in the year 2000.

During service as a judicial officer, he attended the Training Course for Judicial Officers held by the Sindh Judicial Academy, Karachi, as well as the Federal Judicial Academy, Islamabad, in 1993, and the Judicial Training Course held by the Sindh Judicial Academy in 2001. He later left the service in 2001 and put all his attention into private practice. He also taught law at Sindh Law College, Hyderabad, for 12 years as a lecturer and assistant professor.

As an advocate, he remained legal advisor of the Catholic Diocese of Pakistan and the Church of Pakistan, Diocese of Hyderabad, and panel advocate of various financial institutions and municipal administrations. He also remained campaign coordinator for the Amnesty International Hyderabad chapter and attended many peace and human rights conferences held in Pakistan and abroad.

He was also elected as president of the District Bar Association, Hyderabad for the year 2013. He was elevated as a Judge of the High Court of Sindh on 31.08.2013, and since then he has served at the Principal Seat at Karachi, as well as the Bench in Sukkur and Circuit Courts in Hyderabad and Larkana. While there are over twelve thousand disposal of cases to his credit, arising out of different areas of law relating to immovable property, intellectual property, rent, family, arbitration, banking and criminal laws; however, he finds matters of human rights and civil liberties close to his heart.

As a Judge of High Court, Mr. Rajput remained Monitoring Judge of Judicial District Matiari, Hyderabad, Shikarpur and Karachi-South. He represented High Court of Sindh at a Seminar held for Judges from Member Countries of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Beijing, China in December, 2023. His lordship took the oath as Acting Chief Justice of the High Court of Sindh on September 15, 2025.

Profile of Justice Muhammad Kamran Khan Malakhail:

Justice Muhammad Kamran Khan Malakhail was born on the 19th January 1968 at Quetta, who is scion of renowned family of Malakhail tribe and his late father Fazal-ur-Rehman Khan a renowned politician, everlasting member of “PASHTOON JIRGA” politically affiliated with the then leading progressive political party of the country and a businessman.

He brought up his son in a conducive environment of Islamic Teaching, and Patriotism, imparted him with education from well reputed Tameer-i-Nau Schooling system of the City, and completed his graduation, post graduation in Commerce and post-graduate diploma in computer science from University of Balochistan with flying colours in 1992-94. He graduated in law from the University Law College, Quetta, in the year 1994.

Justice Muhammad Kamran Khan Malakhail was enrolled as an Advocate on 13th December, 1995, as an Advocate of the High Court on 13th December, 1997, and as an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on June 19th, 2010. He practiced for over 18 years before the District Courts, the High Court of Balochistan, the Federal Shariat Court and the Honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Justice Muhammad Kamran Khan Malakhail was elevated as an Additional Judge of the High Court of Balochistan on August 30, 2013, and confirmed as Judge of the High Court of Balochistan on the 2nd of September, 2015.

On 8th August 2016, due to a horrendous suicide attack on the legal fraternity, 67 lawyers were martyred, and 92 were severely injured. Justice Muhammad Kamran Khan Malakhail took oath as Acting Chief Justice of the High Court of Balochistan on 17th November 2025.

Profile of Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb:

Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb hails from the Swat valley in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He was born on 14th September, 1970. He received his primary education at Public School Sangota, District Swat. In 1980, he went to Army Burn Hall School, Abbottabad, where he did his Senior Cambridge / ‘O’ Levels in 1988. He then went to Froebels’ International School, Islamabad, where he did his ‘A’ Levels.

In 1991, he was awarded a Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) scholarship to do his LLB (Honours) at the University of Wales, College of Cardiff, United Kingdom. After gaining a law degree in 1994, he proceeded to Lincolns’ Inn where he was called to Bar of England and Wales in 1995.

Thereafter, he did his LLM in corporate and commercial law from the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London). After completing his education, he returned to Pakistan and was enrolled as an Advocate at the Swat District Bar Association in 1996.

In 1997, he was enrolled as an Advocate of the High Court. In 2008, he was enrolled as an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Justice Aurangzeb had been in the active practice of law for 18 years. He has worked as an Associate Counsel at M/s. Hafeez Pirzada Law Associates.

He also practiced independently before the High Court and Supreme Court of Pakistan. He also represented Pakistan in International Arbitration Proceedings. Justice Aurangzeb was administered oath as an Additional Judge of the Islamabad High Court on 23rd December, 2015 and as a permanent Judge on 20th December 2016.

Reporter: Amanat Gishkori