ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa has called a meeting of the Judicial Commission on April 4 to consider the proposed appointment of retired Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed as a judge of the Supreme Court to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of former chief justice Mian Saqib Nisar.

Justice Amin Ahmed, who retired as judge of the Lahore High Court on March 25, hails from Rawalpindi and is regarded an expert on criminal law.

“His elevation will be a good addition because he is a learned judge who did his doctorate in criminology,” said Qalbe Hassan, a former vice chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council.

“He is an efficient judge in terms of disposal of cases on the criminal side,” said Raheel Kamran Sheikh, a PBC member.

Syed Amjad Shah, the vice chairman of PBC, also welcomed the proposal to appoint Justice Amin as a Supreme Court judge.

Mr Shah also reiterated a stance of the council that in future direct appointment of judges in the apex court should be made from amongst senior advocates as provided in the constitution.

The provision has never been complied with since the 1973 Constitution came into effect.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2019