ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on Wednesday declined to confirm three additional judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) whose tenures are to end on June 12.

The additional judges who were not confirmed are: Justice Lubna Saleem Pervez, Justice Fiaz Ahmad Jandran and Justice Ghulam Azam Qambrani. The decision was taken on the recommendation of IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah.

The commission, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed, discussed the judges’ performance over the last 16 months. They were appointed additional judge on Nov 21, 2019, and their nominations were unanimously confirmed by the Parliamentary Committee (PC) on Dec 4 the same year.

But the JCP had in its meeting on Dec 2 last year extended the tenure of the three additional judges for six months instead of confirmation since their performance was stated to be below the mark.

Although the JCP was of the opinion that the three judges were decent, humble and honest, they did not have the depth to deal with complex legal issues expected of a high court judge.

The Judicial Commission felt that the Islamabad High Court had a unique status as it sits in the federal capital and has to deal with a variety of litigation, including matters related to the regulatory authorities.

One of the JCP members was of the view that the commission should relax its criteria since the number of cases heard by the IHC over the last 18 months had been lower than usual due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

But the JCP was unanimous in its observation that an individual aspiring to be a judge should demonstrate an ability to deal with complex legal propositions. Moreover, a judge should enjoy the confidence of peers, bars and litigants to tackle intricate matters.

In addition to the CJP, the JCP meeting was attended by Justice Mushir Alam, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Qazi Faez Isa, the IHC CJ, Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan, Law Minister Farogh Naseem and representatives of the Pakistan Bar Council and the Islamabad Bar Council.

Under Article 175-A of the Constitution, the Judicial Commission recommends the appointment and confirmation of judges, whereas the Parliamentary Committee endorses these recommendations.

At present there are four judges in the Islamabad High Court — Chief Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Aamer Farooq, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb.

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2021