ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission has recommended elevation of the chief justices of two high courts, a sitting judge of Sindh High Court and a retired judge of the same court to fill the four vacant posts of judges in the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court Chief Justice iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who presided over a meeting of the commission on Thursday, unanimously approved the names of the chief justices of the Lahore High Court and Peshawar High Court, Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry and Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, respectively, and Justice Gulzar Ahmed of the SHC and retired judge Mohammad Athar Saeed for the posts.

Justice Ghulam Rabbani retired as ad hoc judge of the Supreme Court on Oct 19 and before him senior judge Justice Javed Iqbal had retired on July 31 and Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed on May 31.

Justice Mahmood Akhtar Shahid Siddiqui reached the age of superannuation on Oct 13.

The commission also decided to nominate Justice Dost Mohammad Khan and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed for the posts of chief justices of the PHC and LHC, respectively.

Three names have been proposed for elevation as judges of the Islamabad High Court – Advocate Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui from Punjab, Advocate Azem Afridi from Fata and Advocate Noorul Haq Qureshi from Sindh.

Their names had been submitted for consideration by IHC Chief Justice Hameedur Rehman. With the appointment of the three judges there will be six judges in the IHC including the chief justice, against its strength of seven.

The recommendations made by the commission will be taken up by the Parliamentary Committee for approval.