JCP nominates new CJs for high courts
Following the Supreme Court's judgment, President Asif Ali Zardari declared Justice Dogar as the senior-most judge of the IHC. He has also notified that the transfer of Justice Dogar, Justice Soomro and Justice Asif to the IHC was made on a permanent basis.
The Constitution Bench of Supreme Court on June 19 held that transfer of judges under Article 200 is within the framework of the Constitution, and (permanently or temporarily) cannot be construed as a fresh appointment. The court had asked the President to determine the seniority and nature of transfer of the transferee judges.
The commission has also nominated Justice Muhammad Junaid Ghaffar as the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court (SHC), Justice Rozi Khan Barrech for Balochistan High Court (BHC), and Justice SM Attique Shah for the Peshawar High Court (PHC).
Four meetings of the JCP were held in the chair of Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi in the Conference Room of the Supreme Court Building at Islamabad on Tuesday for the nomination of permanent chief justices of the SHC, the PHC, the BHC, and the IHC.
The JCP members, for the IHC, considered three names, including Justice Sarfraz Dogar, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, and Justice Miangul Aurangzeb for permanent chief justice of the IHC.
The sources said that Justice Dogar got nine votes. The Commission's members – Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Munib Akhtar voted for Justice Mohsin Kiyani, while the JCP's other members – CJP Yahya Afridi, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members Barrister Ali Zafar and Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, and the member of Islamabad High Court Bar Council Zulfiqar Abbasi – gave their votes to Justice Miazgul Hassan Aurangzeb. Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, another JCP member, did not vote for anyone.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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