LAHORE, April 1: Sixteen lawyers were on Monday approved for appointment as additional district and sessions judges in Grade-19 by the Lahore High Court administrative committee.

The LHC held a written test and a viva voce exam for the initial recruitment. A number of vacancies are still to be filled.

The advocates selected are: Tahir Naeem (Lahore), Tahir Sabir (Rawalpindi), Wajahat Husain Khan (Multan), Imtiaz Husain (Sahiwal), Raja Pervaiz Akhtar (Sargodha), Syed Auon Muhammad Rizvi (Bahawalpur), Mushtaq Ahmad (Multan), Syed Munir Husain Shah (Bahawalnagar), Nazir Ahmad (Faisalabad), Nisar Ahmad (Toba Tek Singh), Pervez Ismail (Khanewal), Sajjad Husain (Bahawalpur), Sajjad Ahmad (Faisalabad), Rai Muhammad Ayub Khan (Toba Tek Singh), Anwar Ahmad Khan (Rawalpindi) and Nussar Ali Naseem (Faisalabad).

The committee headed by Chief Justice Falak Sher also approved for promotion the following senior judges as additional district and sessions judges (BS-19) on officiating basis:

Shabbir Husain (Narowal), Subah Sadiq (Chakwal), Rao Muhammad Saleem Akhtar Khan (Registrar, accountability courts, Lahore), Faiz Muhammad (Sahiwal), Zulfiqar Khan Nasir (D.G. Khan), Muhammad Aslam Pervaiz (Jhelum), Tariq Mahmood Malik (Hafizabad), Javed Akhtar (Attock), Muhammad Rafiq (Sheikhupura), Muhammad Shafiq Butt (Bahawalpur), Muhammad Saleem Uppal (Islamabad), Malik Muhammad Nawaz Samtiah (Okara), Khaqan Bahar (Lahore), Shafiq Ahmad Chaudhry (deputy secretary, Law Department, Lahore), Mian Muhammad Anwar (Sialkot) and Mian Ghulam Husain (Multan).

Cases of Muhammad Afzal Shad and Muhammad Javed Iqbal Khan, senior civil judges, Vehari and Sargodha, respectively, have been deferred for two years.

Cases of Muhammad Nasrullah Khan, senior civil judge, Rajanpur, and Shafiqur Rehman Khan, judge, Small Cases Court, Lahore, have been deferred till Dec 31, 2002.

Moveover from BS-19 to BS-20 has been allowed to the following judicial officers:

Saifur Rehman (D&SJ/OSD, Lahore High Court), Bashir Ahmad Bhatti (AD&SJ, Muzaffargarh), Mehmood Maqbool Bajwa (AD&SJ/Judge, ATA Court, Lahore), Bashir Ahmad Bhatti (AD&SJ, Faisalabad), Muhammad Aslam Bhatti (AD&SJ, Chunian) and Irshadullah Khan Sial (AD&SJ, Okara).

Mian Nasir Husain (AD&SJ, Khanpur) and Mian Muhammad Younas (AD&SJ, Muzaffargarh) have been held not entitled to moveover due to adverse remarks in their annual confidential reports.

Resignation of Chaudhry Ilyas Ahmad Gondal, AD&SJ, Muzaffargarh, has been accepted. Request by daily Pakistan, Lahore, for inclusion in the list of newspapers for court notices was declined.