ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) will be considering names for positions of Additional Judge at Islamabad High Court (IHC), two positions of additional judges at Balochistan High Court (BHC) and the BHC chief justice in the upcoming meeting on December 10.

Four names are being considered for the position at IHC, and six for those at BHC.

Sources in the JCP told Dawn that names of four lawyers - Mohammad Tanvir Meer, Abdul Rehman Siddiqui, Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan and Amir Farooq - have been forwarded by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) administration for the vacant position of additional judge. Since its establishment in January 2011, not a single judge from the federal capital has been appointed to the IHC.

Candidates being considered for BHC chief justice; IHC, BHC additional judges

Tanvir Meer is currently working as district and sessions judge (east). He worked as additional district and sessions judge in Islamabad about five years back. Meer is a judicial officer of the Punjab Judicial Service and was appointed as district and sessions judge Islamabad two months back, on deputation.

Abdul Rehman Siddiqui, another candidate for the position, is a senior lawyer. He has expertise in service cases and has a good reputation in the Federal Services Tribunal. He is known to have associations with the Jamaat-i-Islami.

Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan is the son of renowned criminal law expert Sardar Ishaq Khan. He had served in the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan as executive director. His uncle, Sardar Tariq Masood Khan, is a judge at Lahore High Court (LHC).

Amir Farooq is the son of a senior Lahore-based lawyer.

According to Islamabad High Court (IHC) Act 2010, in addition to the IHC chief justice, there “shall be six other judges to be appointed from the provinces and other territories of Pakistan”.

However, currently there are only four judges at the IHC. These include IHC Chief Justice Mohammad Anwar Khan Kasi from Balochistan, Justice Noorul Haq N. Qureshi from Sindh, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui from Punjab and Justice Athar Minallah from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

For the position of BHC chief justice, Justice Muhammad Noor Meskanzai’s name is being considered. The current Chief Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mengal retires on December 24.

For the positions of additional judges at the BHC, the JCP will be considering the names of Sher Shah Kasi, Imtiaz Hussain, Naseer Ahmed Bungalzai, Nizammuddin and Zahoor Ahmed Mengal.

Sher Shah Kasi is currently working as deputy attorney general in Quetta. Sources close to him say that he has affiliations with the National People’s Party (NPP).

Imtiaz Hussain, another candidate for the position, is the current registrar at BHC. He is a district and sessions judge of the Balochistan Judicial Service.

Nasir Ahmed Bungalzai is a senior lawyer and is working as additional advocate general Balochistan.

Zahoor Ahmed Mengal is also an additional advocate general for Balochistan.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2014