The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), responsible for appointing judges to the higher judiciary, on Tuesday elevated Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb as permanent judge of the Supreme Court (SC).
Chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi, the JCP held its first meeting after the passing of the 27th Constitutional Amendment and the establishment of the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC).
The PCJ had appointed Justice Aurangzeb as ad hoc judge of the high court in February after promoting him from the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
The forum also approved the elevations of Justice Zafara Ahmed Rajput as Chief Justice of Sindh High Court and Justice Kamran Mullahkhail as Chief Justice of Balochistan High Court.
During the meeting, held in the conference room of the Supreme Court building, the PCJ considered the appointment of the SHC chief justice from among the top three judges of the apex court.
Among those considered for the post were Justice Rajput, Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalohoro and Justice Mahmood A. Khan.
Similarly, the PCJ had also considered the appointment of the BHC chief justice from among the three senior judges of the apex court. Among those considered for the post were Justice Mullahkhail, Justice Iqbal Ahmed Kasi and Justice Shaukat Ali Rakhshani.
With the establishment of the FCC, where four SC judges (Justices Aminuddin Khan, Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Aamer Farooq and Ali Baqar Najafi) have been appointed, as well as the resignation of Justices Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah, the total strength of the SC has been reduced from 24 to 18 judges.
The JCP meeting was also attended by FCC Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Aamer Farooq, Attorney General of Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Pakistan Bar Council Representative Ahsan Bhoon, Senator Farooq Hamid Naek, Senator Syed Ali Zafar and the MNA deputies Sheikh Aftab Ahmad and Gohar Ali Khan.
After the passage of the 27th Constitutional Amendment, changes were made to key constitutional and statutory judicial bodies.
Following these changes, SC Judge Jamal Khan Mandokhail was inducted into the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) and Practice and Procedure Committee, while FCC Judge Farooq was appointed to the JCP.
Among the three statutory bodies, the SJC is the main forum for judicial accountability that investigates allegations of misconduct against judges, the Practice and Procedure Committee forms tribunals and settles cases, and the JCP is responsible for appointing judges to the higher judiciary.
