11 additional LHC judges regularised, one shown the door
JCP grants extension to Justice Tariq Mehmood Bajwa; Excludes Justice Raja Ghazanfar: Chief Justice Yahya Afridi chaired commission’s key review meeting
The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on Thursday approved the regularisation of eleven additional judges of the Lahore High Court (LHC) while granting an extension to one judge and dropping another from consideration.
According to the 24NewsHD TV channel, the commission’s scheduled meeting was held in the Supreme Court’s conference room under the chairmanship of Chief Justice Yahya Afridi.
The JCP examined the professional performance and credentials of the serving additional judges before reaching its decision.
Following deliberations, the commission confirmed the appointments of Justice Hassan Nawaz Makhdoom, Justice Malik Waqar Haider Awan, Justice Sardar Akbar Ali, Justice Syed Ahsan Raza Kazmi, Justice Malik Javid Iqbal Wains, Justice Muhammad Jawad Zafar, Justice Khalid Ishaq, Justice Malik Muhammad Awais Khalid, Justice Chaudhry Sultan Mahmood, Justice Tanveer Ahmad Sheikh, and Justice Abher Gul Khan.
The JCP further approved an extension for Lahore High Court Additional Judge Justice Tariq Mehmood Bajwa. However, Justice Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan was not confirmed and has been dropped from the list of permanent judges.
Today's session comes a day after the Judicial Commission confirmed six additional judges of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) and granted six-month extensions to four others.
The judges given permanent status were Justice Tariq Afridi, Justice Abdul Fayyaz, Justice Salahuddin, Justice Sadiq Ali, Justice Mudassir Ameer and Justice Qazi Jawad, while Justice Farah Jamshed, Justice Inamullah, Justice Aurangzeb and Justice Sabitullah received extensions.
The PHC decision followed another major meeting on Tuesday in which the Commission approved the confirmation of ten out of twelve additional judges of the Sindh High Court (SHC).
The meeting, chaired by CJP Afridi at the SC’s Conference Room, confirmed Justice Meeran Muhammad Shah, Justice Tasleem Sultana, Justice Riazat Ali Sahar, Justice Muhammad Hassan, Justice Abdul Hamid Bhurgi, Justice Jan Ali Junejo, Justice Nasir Ahmed Bhanboro, Justice Ali Haider Ada, Justice Usman Ali and Justice Muhammad Jafar Raza.
Two judges—Justice Khalid Hussain Shahani and Justice Syed Fiaz ul Hassan Shah—were granted a six-month extension. The Judicial Commission also extended the tenure of SHC constitutional benches by six months and inducted four new judges—Justice Amjad Ali Bohio, Justice Muhammad Hassan (Akber), Justice Ali Haider Ada and Justice Muhammad Osman Ali Hadi—into the constitutional roster.
Earlier this week, the Commission confirmed three additional judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and approved one appointment to the Balochistan High Court (BHC). Justice Najamuddin Mengal was confirmed to the BHC, while Justice Ayub Khan was not approved. The IHC judges who received permanent status were Justice Inam Ameen Minhas, Justice Azam Khan and Justice Muhammad Asif.
Reporter: Amanat Gishkori