The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) has appointed separate interview committees to vet candidates for additional judgeships in four high courts, with no members from the Supreme Court included. This significant development underscores a departure from established judicial hierarchy.
According to a notification issued on Wednesday and published by Dawn, these committees are tasked with interviewing candidates until July 4, 2026, for the Lahore High Court (LHC), Islamabad High Court (IHC), Sindh High Court (SHC), and Balochistan High Court (BHC).
The composition of the four committees varies slightly in their judicial members but all draw strength from either the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) or the respective high courts. For instance, both the LHC and IHC have a seven-member panel headed by FCC Judge Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi.
For the Sindh High Court (SHC), the chairman is assigned to FCC Judge Aamer Farooq, with Chief Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput of the court, Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan, Senators Farooq Hamid Naek and Syed Ali Zafar, and Supreme Court Bar Association representative Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon as committee members.
A similar structure has been notified for the Balochistan High Court (BHC), with Justice Aamer Farooq serving as chairperson and Chief Justice Muhammad Kamran Khan Malakhail of Sindh replacing the Sindh chief justice as a member. The remaining members are identical across all panels.
This move comes against the backdrop of stalled judicial appointments in various high courts due to unresolved issues following the 27th Constitutional Amendment, which enabled the JCP to have more control over the appointment process.
Source: Original report
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