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Sindh’s law officers dominate nominations for high court judges
KARACHI: A number of provincial and federal law officers, the Sindh prosecutor general, relatives of former judges, some district judges and a leader of the PPP lawyers’ wing are among the names nominated for appointment as additional judges of Sindh High Court by various members of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP).
At present, the SHC is functioning with 28 judges against a sanctioned strength of 40, and the JCP is likely to consider these nominations to fill the dozen vacant positions, in its meeting scheduled for Dec 21.
Initially, SHC Chief Justice Mohammad Shafi Siddiqui had nominated 13 individuals as proposed additional judges of SHC, as the appointment of additional judges was also on the agenda of the JCP meeting held on Dec 6.
However, the item was deferred till the 21st, while the date for submission of nominations for appointment of additional judges was also extended until Dec 10.
Thereafter, other members of the JCP had also forwarded their nominations to the commission’s secretary.
The SHC chief justice had nominated district & sessions judges Suresh Kumar and Khalid Hussain Shahani, who rank five and six, respectively, on the seniority list of district judges in Sindh; former Justice Atta-ur-Rehman‘s son Obaidur Rehman Khan; former attorney general Anwar Mansoor Khan’s daughter Umaimah Anwar Khan; and Barrister Rafiq Ahmed Kalwar.
The chief justice also recommended deputy attorney general Osman Ali Hadi, additional advocate general Zeeshan Adhi, Sukkur-based lawyer Nisar Ahmed Bhambro, deputy attorney general (Hyderabad) Prakash Kumar and Mansoor Ali Ghangro for appointment to the high court.
Former Karachi Bar Association president Amin Lakhani’s son Muhammad Umar Lakhani; one of the partners in PPP leader Raza Rabbani’s law firm Zeeshan Abdullah; and, partner at Karachi mayor Murtaza Wahab’s law firm, Jaffer Raza, were also on the chief justice’s list of nominees.
PPP Senator Farooq H. Naek and Sindh Law Minister Ziaul Hasan Lanjar — who are members of the JCP — nominated Sindh Advocate General Muhammad Hasan Akber, Assistant Advocate General Sandeep Malani and Peoples Lawyers’ Forum Sindh President Qazi Muhammad Bashir, who is also serving as additional advocate general Sindh, for appointment to the SHC.
The duo also named various lawyers, including Mohsin Kadir Shahwani, Shazia Hanjrah and Jamshed Malik. Besides, they recommended four of the names already put forward by the SHC chief justice.
Before taking over as the top provincial law officer in 2022, Hasan Akber had served as NAB’s additional prosecutor general and is an associate of Justice Faisal Arab.
Ms Hanjrah, meanwhile, is the wife of incumbent SHC judge Justice Adnanul Karim Memon and an associate at the law firm of Senator Farooq H. Naek.
PTI senator Syed Ali Zafar — also a member of the JCP — has nominated Ishrat Zahid Alavi, Altaf Hussain, former deputy attorney general Haq Nawaz Talpur, Barrister Fayaz Ahmed, Ghulam Mohiyuddin, Rashid Mustafa, Syed Tariq Ahmed Shah, Wazeer Hussain Khoso and district & sessions judge Jahangir Ahmed, who is 11th on the seniority list, for consideration.
Ishrat Alavi is a son of retired Justice Zahid Qurban Alvi, while Altaf Hussain is an associate at the law firm of deputy attorney general Zia Makhdoom. Barrister Fayyaz, meanwhile, has served as a former president of the Malir Bar Association.
The names of Syed Tariq Shah and Rashid Mustafa had also come under consideration before the JCP in March last year, but were dropped due to various reasons.
The head of the SHC constitutional benches Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha has also sent the names of district & sessions judge Tasneem Sultana (who is fourth on the seniority list); PPP leader Syed Naveed Qamar’s brother Sindh additional advocate general Miran Shah, Sindh prosecutor general Dr Faiz Shah, Osman Hadi and former Hyderabad Bar Association president Imdad Unar. He also nominated Advocate Talpur, who was mentioned by PTI senator Zafar, among his nominations.
Sindh Bar Council representative Qurban Ali Malano has named deputy attorney general (Sukkur) Ali Hyder Dareshani, Nisar Bhambro and Imdad Unar.
In addition, some senior lawyers have also been nominated by various JCP members. For example, senior puisne judge of Supreme Court Justice Mansoor Ali Shah has nominated senior lawyers — Chaudhry Atif Rafiq, a partner at the law firm of senior lawyer Munir A. Malik; and, Ravi Pinjani, a former associate of Rashid A. Razvi.
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar proposed the name of Yasir Ahmed Shah, son of PML-N leader Shah Mohammad Shah, for the post in question.
Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2024
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