ISLAMABAD - The Parliamentary Committee on Judges Appointment in the Superior Judiciary Wednesday unanimously approved the elevation of Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Ayesha A. Malik to Supreme Court. 

The parliamentary committee made the decision amid opposition of some representative bodies of the legal fraternity over this nomination due to the principle of seniority. It actually endorsed the recommendation of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) to elevate Justice Malik to the apex court. 

An official of the Senate Secretariat told The Nation that the committee has approved the nomination keeping in view the gender of Justice Malik. He said that the committee has insisted that the principle of seniority would be followed in future and in other cases. 

Justice Malik will be the country’s first-ever woman judge of the Supreme Court and will work as a judge of the apex court until June 203. She also has the opportunity to become the chief justice of Pakistan after the retirement of Justice Yahya Afridi in January 2030. 

On January 6, the JCP headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Gulzar Ahmed had approved the nomination of Justice Malik by a majority of five votes against four. The opposing members of the commission had viewed that her elevation violates the principle of seniority. Justice Malik is at number four on the seniority list of LHC. 

PPP Senator Farooq H Naek and PML-N Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar from the legal fraternity are members of the parliamentary committee besides other lawmakers. Earlier this week, former chairman Senate Senator Naek, who heads the parliamentary committee, had moved a constitutional amendment bill in the house that seeks elevation of judges in the apex court and high courts on the basis of seniority. 

The parliamentary committee did not approve the appointment of three district and sessions judges to the Peshawar High Court (PHC) as additional judges on the grounds that their appointment violated the principle of seniority.  Those names did not endorse by the panel include Fazal Subhan, Shahid Khan, and Dr Khurshid Iqbal. The committee sent their names back to the JCP for reconsideration. 

The committee, however, approved the names of three lawyers, Kamran Hayat Miankhel, Muhammad Ijaz Khan, and Muhammad Faheem Wali, for their appointment as the PHC judges.  

Earlier, the JCP had approved six names for the appointment as additional judges of PHC.