JCP Recommends 10 Judicial Appointments Across Three High Courts: Chief Justice Yahya Afridi Chairs Back-To-Back Meetings On SHC, IHC And PHC Vacancies While Barrister Gohar And Senator Zafar Fail To Attend Without Explanation
According to Dawn, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan met on July 21 under the chairmanship of Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi in three separate sessions from 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Supreme Court Conference Room, recommending a total of ten judicial appointments across the Sindh, Islamabad and Peshawar High Courts.
For the Sindh High Court, the commission by majority recommended a six-month extension for Justice Khalid Hussain Shahani as an additional judge, declined to confirm Justice Syed Fiaz ul Hassan Shah, approved three new additional judges; Advocate Muhammad Humayon Khan, District and Sessions Judge Suresh Kumar, and Advocate Dr Shah Nawaz Memon and extended the SHC constitutional benches’ tenure by three months. Two further nominations failed to secure the required majority.
For the Islamabad High Court, the commission recommended Advocate Ayyaz Shaukat, District and Sessions Judge Shahrukh Arjumand, and Advocate Umair Majeed Malik as additional judges.
For the Peshawar High Court, four additional judges were confirmed as permanent: Justice Farah Jamshed, Justice Inaam Ullah Khan, Justice Sabit Ullah Khan, and Justice Aurangzeb.
Notably absent from all three sessions were Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Senator Barrister Syed Ali Zafar — both PTI representatives on the Judicial Commission who offered no public explanation for their non-attendance.
The composition of Pakistan’s high courts is one of the most consequential and least-scrutinised exercises in public governance. Every name confirmed or denied here shapes the bench that will rule on cases affecting millions of Pakistanis. PTI’s unexplained absence from this meeting raises a straightforward question: if a political party sits on the JCP for the purpose of representing public interest in judicial appointments, what does it communicate when it doesn’t show up?
Check out our previous coverage of Pakistan affairs on The Trusted Times.
