ISLAMABAD, May 10: President Asif Ali Zardari approved on Thursday nomination of three judges of the Balochistan High Court and five of the Lahore High Court.

He also gave one-year extension to four additional judges of the Lahore High Court.

Judges appointed to the BHC are Justice Abdul Qadir Mengal, Justice Naeem Akhter Afghan and Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar.

“A summary received by the president from Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said that after due consideration by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan and later by the Parliamentary Committee on the Appointment of Judges in the Superior Courts, nominations of BHC and Lahore High Court judges were forwarded to the prime minister, who in turn advised the president to accord his approval to these nominations,” said President’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar.

Four judges of Lahore High Court whose nomination were approved by the president were: Justice Altaf Ibrahim Qureshi, Justice Abdus Sattar Asghar, Justice Mehmood Maqbool Bajwa, Justice Ameen-ud-Din Khan and Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti.

The tenure of Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Younas, Justice Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah, Justice Syed Muhammad Kazim Raza Shamsi and Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmed Khan of Lahore High Court has been extended for a period of one year.

The spokesman said these nominations relating to Lahore High Court were forwarded through the prime minister to the president by the Parliamentary Committee on Judges Appointment in the superior courts after due consideration by the Judicial Commission, in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Constitution.