ISLAMABAD, July 18: President Asif Ali Zardari on the advice of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf extended on Wednesday the tenure of four additional judges and appointed another four to the Peshawar High Court.

According to Presidency’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar, the tenure of Justice Khalid Mehmood has been extended till the date of his superannuation, of Justice Nisar Hussain Khan, Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth and Justice Qaiser Rashid for one year.

A summary sent to the presidency by the prime minister’s office said that nominations for extension as additional judges of the PHC were received on June 30 this year from the secretary of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan, Islamabad, for confirmation by the Parliamentary Committee on Judges’ Appointment in Superior Courts.

It said the parliamentary committee could not confirm the nominations within the stipulated period of 14 days because it failed to convene its meetings on July 11 and 13 for lack of quorum.

The spokesman said the nominations, deemed to have been confirmed under Clause 12 of Article 175 A of the Constitution, were forwarded to the prime minister for advising the president to accord his approval also to these extensions. “Accordingly, acting on the advice of the prime minister, the president today (Wednesday) approved the extension in tenure of the four additional judges of PHC,” he said.

The president on the advice of the prime minister also approved the appointment of Irshad Qaiser (a district & sessions judge), Shah Jehan Khan Akhunzada (D&SJ), Rooh ul Amin Khan (a lawyer) and Assadullah Khan Chamkani (a lawyer) as judges of the PHC.

Their nominations for appointment as additional judges of PHC were received on June 30 from the secretary of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan for confirmation by the Parliamentary Committee on Judges Appointment in Superior Courts.

The parliamentary committee could not confirm these nominations within the stipulated time of 14 days. Therefore, the nominations were deemed to have been confirmed under clause 12 of Article 175 A of the constitution.

The nominations were then forwarded to the prime minister for advising the president to accord his approval.