ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commis­sion of Pakistan (JCP) will meet tomorrow (Thursday) to discuss the candidates to be appointed as Sindh High Court (SHC) judges.

The commission will co­­nsider 46 candidates vyi­ng for 12 vacant posts. The list included four female candidates — two lawyers and two district and sessions judges (DSJ).

The JCP will consider the overall performance of all candidates. However, in a recent meeting to appoint judges to the Islamabad High Court judges, the commission examined the overall performance of candidates, with a focus on their case disposal rate.

Among the prominent female candidates is DSJ Tasneem Sultana, number 2 on the seniority list of SHC’s subordinate judiciary. She joined the judicial service on April 28, 1994 and her age of superannuation is May 14, 2026. She was promoted to the post of DSJ on Feb 9, 2012 and was presently awaiting posting.

Earlier, she was working as an accountability judge where she disposed of three references, 21 bail applications, six criminal miscellaneous applications and three investigations.

Another DSJ, Munawar Sultana, is number five on the seniority list. She joined the judicial service on July 13, 2005, and was promoted to sessions judge on July 15, 2013. She will attain the age of superannuation on Dec 6 this year. At present, she is working as a sessions judge in Khairpur, where she delivered 931 judgements in three years.

Umaimah Anwar Khan, the daughter of former attorney general Anwar Mansoor Khan, is also in contention to become an SHC judge.

She holds an LLB degree from the University of Sussex and was called to the Lincolns Inn as a Barrister.

Shazia Hanjra, another lawyer, served as the special prosecutor on the Baldia Town factory fire case. She later disassociated herself from the case over alleged non-cooperation by the local police.

Published in Dawn, January 22th, 2025