ISLAMABAD: The Pakis­tan Bar Council and its provincial chapters have called for reconstituting the rules committee of the Ju­­dicial Commission of Pakis­tan (JCP) ‘without delay’ so that rules governing the appointment of judges to superior courts could be amended within two months.

The call was made after the PBC held a meeting with representatives from bar bodies across the country to discuss the elevation of judges to the superior judiciary in the light of recommendations made by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan rules committee at a meeting on March 9.

The committee had sought the appointment of judges who have expertise in civil and criminal laws as there was a dearth of such individuals after the retirement of a number of judges equipped to handle such cases.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umar Ata Bandial had chaired the meeting.

The joint meeting convened by the PBC on Thu­rs­day was held at its office in the Supreme Court building.

Hafeezur Rehman Chaudhry, the council’s vice chairman, chaired the meeting, attended by Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon, who heads the Supreme Court Bar Association, and others.

The meeting asked the authorities concerned to avoid making fresh elevations in superior courts until the process to amend rules for the purpose was over.

The bar bodies called for completing the process of confirming 13 additional judges of the Lahore High Court within two months.

Another demand concerned the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court, who was appointed as an ad hoc judge of the Supreme Court on Aug 16 last year, but whose status has been in limbo ever since.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2022