ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) is likely to select four judges of Islamabad High Court (IHC) from a list of 21 nominees at its meeting scheduled to be held on Friday (today).

The names of eight of the nominees are being discussed as the most likely judges of the IHC.

As per the Procedure of Deliberations, “after the deliberations, voting on the nominations shall be conducted by a show of hands.”

Under Clause 6 of the procedure, “a nominee must secure the votes of a majority of the total membership of the commission to be selected for nomination by the commission.”

The next clause states that “where no nominee secures the required majority for a vacancy, the commission shall hold an additional round of voting among those nominees who secured the highest number of votes in the first round, but not exceeding two nominees for each vacancy required to be filled.” It means, “if more than two nominees secure the highest number of votes, the second round of voting shall be held between the top two nominees.”

The nominees for the vacant positions are: Advocate General Islamabad Ayyaz Shaukat, nominated by member JCP Roshan Khursheed Bharucha; Umer Aslam Khan and Syed Qamar Hussain Sabzwari, nominated by PPP Senator Farooq H. Naek and Islamabad Bar Council (IBC).

Eight of 21 nominees being discussed asmost likely judgesof the high court

Implementation Tribunal for Newspapers Employees (ITNE) Chairman Shahid Mehmood Khokhar has been nominated by Sheikh Aftab of the PML-N, Mohammad Abdul Rafeh and Chaudhry Hafeezullah Yaqoob by PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, and Malik Tahir Mehmood is the nominee of Federal Minister Rana Tanvir Hussain.

Babar Bilal is another nominee of the PTI while Sultan Mazhar Sher Khan, Adnan Haider Randhawa and Nudrat Bayan Majeed are the nominees of Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah.

Moreover, Usman Ghani Rashid Cheema and Raja Inam Ameen Minhas are the nominees of Pakistan Bar Council (PBC).

District and Sessions Judges Raja Jawad Abbas Hassan, Mohammad Azam Khan and Shahrukh Arjumand are the nominees of the chief justice of IHC.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar has been nominated by Ms Bharucha. Adnan Basharat advocate is also nominated by her.

Senator Naek also nominated Danyal Ijaz. Interestingly, Senator Naek, who is also the incumbent PBC vice chairman, and PTI Chairman PTI Gohar Ali Khan nominated Kashif Ali Malik.

The judicial circles are of the view that Advocate Malik, known for his integrity and professionalism may be a choice of the commission.

Likewise, advocates Minhas and Cheema both nominated by the PBC, the apex regulatory body of the legal fraternity are also considered to be the most favourite.

Minhas played a key role in getting the posts of IHC judges increased when he was the president of the Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA). He was also part of the Senate committee on legal reforms at that time.

He also actively lobbied for restoration of the IHC when the then chief justice of Pakistan had declared it illegal along with other orders of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf issued on Nov 3, 2007.

In addition, some lawyers are also of the view that Umer Aslam and Sabzwari are also among the senior candidates.

Among the judges of the district courts, the names of Shahrukh Arjumand and Azam Khan are being discussed among the favourite ones. Initially, the IHC chief justice had proposed only the names of Judge Shahrukh Arjumand and Azam Khan. However, in the next round, the name of Judge Jawad Abbas Hassan was also added to the IHC’s list officially sent to the JCP.

However, the names of Judge Humayun Dilawar is also on the card, especially members belonging to the treasury at a recent meeting benches took great interest in the name of Judge Dilawar, sources privy to the development told Dawn.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2025