ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) is meeting on June 10 to consider elevating five advocates as judges of the Balochistan High Court (BHC).

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial will preside over the meeting. The advocates under consideration are Iqbal Ahmed Kasi, Shaukat Ali Rakhshani, Gul Hasan Tareen, Muhammad Aamir Nawaz Rana and Sardar Ahmed Haleemi.

The meeting has been called after the All Balochistan Lawyers Representative Conference, which was held in Quetta on May 31 and presided over by Balochistan Bar Council Vice Chairman Qasim Gajazai.

The representative conference adopted a resolution emphasising merit-based appointments through a transparent mechanism for elevating judges in the BHC. The high court has nine judges at present against the sanctioned strength of 15.

The resolution also highlighted the need for meaningful consultation with the representatives of the bar council and bar association in promoting judges. It also asked to ensure merit-based appointments instead of giving favours to the chamber fellows or relatives of the judges.

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2022