ISLAMABAD: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Adviser to the Prime Minister Rana Sanaullah on Friday were made members of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP).

Two seats in the JCP were vacant after the recent resignations of PPP stalwart Senator Farooq H. Naek and PML-N member Aftab Sheikh.

Both Bilawal and Rana will represent Parliament as members of the treasury benches in the respective Houses – the National Assembly and the Senate.

The nominations were made by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who is also leader of the House in the National Assembly, as well as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, who is the leader of the house in the Senate, under Article 175A (2)(vii) of the Constitution.

A notification for the appointments was issued on Friday by the JCP with the approval of Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi, who is also the body’s chairperson.

The next JCP meeting is scheduled for Oct 13, when the body will meet to consider extending the term of the Sindh High Court’s Constitutional Benches.

The JCP is mandated by the Article 175A of the Constitution to appoint judges of the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), the Supreme Court, the high courts and the Federal Shariat Court. The commission also evaluates the performance of the judges of the high courts.

Under the 26th Amendment, changes were made to Article 175A, which reconstituted the JCP with the inclusion of four members of parliament — two each from the treasury and opposition, one from the National Assembly and the other from the Senate.

The commission consists of chief justices of the SC and the FCC, the next most senior judge from each court, and two judges from each court jointly nominated by the chief justices for a period of two years.

It also comprises the federal law minister, the attorney general for Pakistan, an advocate with no less than 15 years of practice in the SC, two members from the Senate and the National Assembly each from the treasury and opposition benches, and a woman, non- Muslim or technocrat other than a member of the Parliament, who is qualified to become a member of the Parliament.