ISLAMABAD – The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, on Saturday nominated Sindh High Court (SHC) Chief Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmani as a Supreme Court judge, while Justice Musheer Alam will replace him as the SHC chief justice.
The commission also granted an extension of tenure to 24 additional judges of the Lahore High Court (LHC). A total of 34 additional judges of the Lahore High Court were being considered for the extension, however, the names of ten judges were dropped. On the other hand, five judges of the Peshawer High Court were also dropped, as two PHC judges were confirmed by the JCP.
The commission will take up the issue of SHC additional judges in its next session. After the approval of the 19th Amendment, it was the first time when all nine members participated in the commission’s meeting. Justice Tassadduq Hussain Jillani and Justice Nasirul Mulk are the two new members of the commission and after their inclusion, the strength of judges in the commission has risen to five.
The CJP is the commission’s chairman and its other members are Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Main Shakirullah Jan, Justice Tassadduq Hussain Jillani, Justice Nasirul Mulk, Justice (r) Chaudhry Ijaz Ahmad, Attorney General for Pakistan Maulvi Anwarul Haq, Law Minister Babar Awan and Pakistan Bar Council representative Dr Khalid Ranjha.
Earlier, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had summoned the Judicial Commission’s meeting on January 15 for considering the appointment of two judges in the apex court, but the meeting was postponed due to the death of Justice Javed Iqbal’s parents.
