*ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on Thursday rejectedthe elevation of five high court judges, nominated by Chief Justice ofPakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, to the Supreme Court.*
Sources prior to the development told ARY News that CJP Bandial presidedover the judicial commission’s meeting, where a total of five judges, twofrom the Sindh High Court and three from the Lahore High Court (LHC), wereconsidered.
Four members of the commission voted in favour of the nominees while fivemembers opposed the appointments, they said and added that Justice QaziFaez Isa and the attorney general of Pakistan attended the meeting viavideo link.
However, according to sources, Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Tariq Masood,Attorney-General Ashtar Ausaf Ali, and Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar votedagainst all the five nominees.
The names of Chief Justice Peshawar High Court (PHC) Qaiser Rashid Khan,Sindh High Court (SHC) judges – Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, JusticeMuhammad Shafi Siddiqui, Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto, and Justice ShahidWaheed of Lahore High Court (LHC) were considered to fill the existingvacancies.
The positions of Supreme Court judges fell vacant after the retirement ofJustice Mushir Alam, former chief justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice MaqboolBaqar and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel.
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Justice Sajjad Ali Shah will reach superannuation next August.
It is pertinent to mention here that the JCP is responsible for approvingthe appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and CJP heads the commission.
Recently, the meeting of JCP has become controversial as the legalfraternity accuses CJP of not following due process.
Earlier this week, Justice Qazi Faez Isa, one of the senior-most judges ofthe SC, raised objections over the summoning of a JCP meeting on July 28.
