Sardar Ayaz Sadiq nominates 5 members for formation of Judicial Commission for appointment of judges in higher judiciary.  Commission will meet on Nov 5 to discuss nomination of judges for constitutional benches as well.  Treasury, Opposition gets equal representation in Commission.

ISLAMABAD  -  Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Yahya Afridi on Saturday summoned the first meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan on November 5 to discuss nomination of judges for Supreme Court’s constitutional benches. The move comes hours after Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq nominated five members for formation of a Judicial Commission for appointment of Judges in Higher Judiciary. These include: Leader of opposition in National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan, Sheikh Aftab Ahmed of PML (N), Senators Farooq Naek and Shibli Faraz from the Senate and Roshan Khursheed Bharucha as a woman member of Judicial Commission. All nominations were forwarded to the Secretary of the Judicial Commission. The Supreme Court has received all nominations.

Also, Speaker National Assembly has written a letter to Supreme Judicial Commission regarding forming a judicial commission to appoint judges in the higher judiciary.

The agenda of the JCP meeting includes establishment of the secretariat of the commission, nomination of judges for the constitutional benches in the top court and any other matter with the permission of the CJP.

The commission’s Chairman CJP Afridi, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Khan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Senator Farooq Hamid Naek, MNA Sheikh Aftab Ahmad, Roshan Khursheed Bharucha, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Attorney-General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan, senior Advocate Akhtar Hussain, Senator Shibli Faraz and MNA Omer Ayub Khan would attend the maiden meeting the body.

The list issued by the JCP comprised 12 names however senior most member of constitutional bench will also be included in the top judicial body after its formation in line with the 26th Amendment.

The commission was reconstituted following the enactment of the 26th Constitutional Amendment and will now include members of the parliament.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Sheikh Aftab and Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub are nominated from the lower house for the commission. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Farooq H Naek, Leader of Opposition in Senate Shibli Faraz and a former member of the Senate, Roshan Khursheed Barocha, have been nominated. Both, Ayub and Shibli, belong to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The NA spokesperson said all the nominations were sent to the JCP secretary. The official said five members, including four parliamentarians, were incorporated into the JCP under the 26th Constitutional Amendment. The government and opposition have equal representation in the names sent from the parliament for the commission, the official said, adding that all the names were received by the Supreme Court. The names of two senators were nominated by Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gillani, under Article 175-A of the Constitution, on advice of the Leader of the Senate Ishaq Dar and the opposition leader.

The JCP has pivotal role in the judicial system as it appoints judges to the SC, high courts, and Federal Shariat Court. It also oversees the performance of high court judges and prepare their annual performance evaluations.

Last month, President Asif Ali Zardari had signed the 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill into law on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif following its approval by parliament.

The ruling coalition succeeded in pushing the highly contentious judicial reforms through parliament via a two-thirds majority with 225 and 65 votes in the lower and upper house, respectively.

According to the 26th Amendment, five members of Parliament are to be included in the Judicial Commission. These nominations were made by the Speaker of the National Assembly as per sub-paragraph (viii) of clause (2) of Article 175A of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, which permits the Speaker NA to nominate a woman or a non-Muslim to the Judicial Commission.

The nominated female member of the Judicial Commission, Ms. Roshan Khursheed Bharucha, hails from Balochistan and is a former Senator.