ISLAMABAD: The parliamentary committee on judges’ appointments confirmed on Thursday appointments of eight additional judges to the Lahore High Court (LHC).

The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) had recommended on Oct 17 names of eight people for their appointment as additional judges of the LHC and four as additional judges of the Peshawar High Court (PHC).

For the LHC, the committee approved the names of Qazi Amin, Mirza Waqas Rauf, Shahid Karim, Chaudhry Mushtaq Ahmed, Khalid Mehmood Malik, Ali Akbar Qureshi, Masood Abid Naqvi and Chaudhry Mohammad Iqbal.

The committee, however, did not endorse the JCP’s recommendations about the PHC. Qalander Ali Khan, Guzanfar Khan, Mohammad Younis Tehiam and Haider Ali Khan were recommended by the JCP for their appointment to the PHC.

Talking to media personnel, Senator Rafique Rajwa­na of the parliamentary committee said that some members had expressed their reservations over the names proposed for the PHC and the matter could not be decided. He, however, clarified that the committee had neither approved nor rejected the name of any judge.

According to Article 175-A of the Constitution, if the parliamentary committee after receipt of nominations from the JCP fails to make a decision within 14 days, then the JCP’s recommendations “shall be deemed to have been confirmed”.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2014