The names were approved at a meeting of the JC, presided over by Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on Saturday. – Photo by PPI

ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission for judges’ appointment unanimously approved on Saturday the names of Chief Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Amir Hani Muslim of the Sindh High Court for elevation to the Supreme Court.

Mushir Alam, the most senior puisine judge of the SHC, was nominated as the new chief justice of the high court.

The names were approved at a meeting of the JC, presided over by Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

The JC recommendations will now be taken up by the Parliamentary Committee. If the PC approves the recommendations, the number of apex court’s judges will rise to the sanctioned strength of 17.

Both the commission and the committee have been set up under the 18th Amendment and reaffirmed by the 19th Amendment.

Although members of the JC were tight-lipped, a handout issued by the commission simply said that certain recommendations regarding the appointment of judges in the Superior Court were made. Justice Sarmad Osmany has already served as a judge in the Supreme Court. He was sent back to the SHC to become its chief justice after the July 31, 2009, SC judgment declared unconstitutional the Nov 3, 2007, emergency imposed by former president Pervez Musharraf. The verdict asked over 100 superior court judges to quit the judicial post for taking oath under the Provisional Constitution Order.

In its earlier sittings, the JC had recommended the names of Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry as Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court and Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman as Chief Justice of the restored Islamabad High Court.

A source privy to the Saturday’s meeting told Dawn that the JC deferred till its next meeting recommendations for confirmation of two additional judges of the LHC -- Justice Asad Munir and Justice Sheikh Ahmad Farooq. The issue of extension of tenure of nine additional judges of the SHC would also be considered at the next meeting.

The commission proposed extension of tenure of 24 of 34 additional judges of the LHC for another year, but decided not to further extend the tenure of 10 additional judges. They would no longer be able to function as judges if the eight-member Parliamentary Committee approves the JC recommendations.

The judges whose tenure was not approved by the JC are: Justices Mansoor Akbar Kokab, Hafiz Abdul Rehman Ansari, Muhammad Naseem Akhtar Khan, Muhammad Anwar Bhaur, Mian Shahid Iqbal, Shaukat Umar Pirzada, Syed Akhlaq Ahmad, Waqar Hassan Mir, Hassan Raza Pasha and Tariq Javaid.

The JC proposed to confirm Justice Yahya Afridi of the Peshawar High Court as a permanent judge, but dropped the names of the rest of six additional judges of the provincial high court. Justice Afridi, after confirmation, will likely to reach superannuation sometimes in March.

The source confided that the decision to drop the judges’ names and not to propose further extension was taken because of some integrity issues and lack of performance and judicial acumen expected of a high court judge.

The source said that the Supreme Court Bar Association had in a representation to the JC expressed reservations over the performance of some high court judges and levelled serious allegations against them.

However, the JC did not take up the matter at its Saturday meeting.

SCBA President Asma Jehangir opposed the concept of extension of judges and said the judges whose cases had not been considered for further extension should have been informed earlier so that they had the option to resign.

The 24 additional judges of the LHC who were given extension include Justices Sagheer Ahmad Qadri, Nasir Saeed Sheikh, Sheikh Najamul Hasan, Khawaja Imtiaz Ahmad, Manzoor Ahmad Malik, Sardar Tariq Masood, Ijazul Ahsan, Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Chaudhry Mohammad Tariq, Chaudhry Shahid Saeed, Rauf Ahmed Sheikh, Ijaz Ahmad, Muhammad Khalid Mehmood Khan, Shahid Hameed Dar, Muhammad Yawar, Muhammad Anwaarul Haq, Sardar Muhammad Shamim Khan, Mamoon Rashid Sheikh, Muhammad Farrukh Irfan Khan, Muhammad Qasim Khan, Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar and Mazhar Iqbal Sidhu.