Islamabad: Three senior judges, along with the chief justice of Sindh and Lahore high courts, were sworn in as Supreme Court judges after being notified by the justice and promotion minister.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Kazi Faez Isa administered the oath to LHC Justice Kazi Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan, SHC Chief Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi and LHC Justice Shaheed Bilal Hasan.
The swearing-in ceremony was held today at the apex court.
The day before, the Ministry of Law and Justice announced the appointment of the above-mentioned high court judges to the SC with the approval of President Asif Ali Zardari under Article 177.
Following the appointment of LHC Chief Justice Kazi Shahzad, Justice Shujaat Ali Khan has been appointed as LHC CJ by President Zardari under Article 196, according to a notification issued by the Law Ministry.
Justice Shujaat will be the LHC CJ until his appointment.
The Judicial Council of Pakistan (JCP) has recommended the removal of the LHC and SHC chief justices to the apex court, in addition to recommending the removal of LHC judges to the apex court earlier this month.
This decision was taken by the Chairman of the CJP Commission Isa, who chaired the meeting of the JCP, the constitutional forum for the appointment of judges in the High Court.
After a full discussion by The News, it was reported that the commission approved the nomination of Justice Prince by a majority of 5-4. The JCP also confirmed the approval of Adalat Shahid.
Of the nine members of the commission, four members of the JCP, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice (former) Manzoor Ahmed Malik opposed the transfer of the LHC chief justice to the Supreme Court, CJP Isa, Justice. Amin-ud-Din, Azam Tarar, AG Mansoor Usman Awan and PBC representative Akhtar Hussain supported Adalat Shahzad’s nomination.
It should be mentioned here that the strength of Supreme Court judges was 14 earlier compared to the constitutional strength of 17, hence three new judges were appointed.
After the retirement of former Kazi Umar Ata Bandial and removal of Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, three posts of Supreme Court judges have become vacant.
