ISLAMABAD: As the National Assembly prepares to consider five private bills on Tuesday, including one aimed at increasing the number of judges in the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa has scheduled a Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) meeting on September 13. The meeting will focus on discussing the proposed JCP Rules 2024.
The JCP meeting will also address the elevation of judges within the superior judiciary, with discussions possibly extending into the following day if the agenda is not completed on September 13. Attendees will include senior Supreme Court judges such as Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, and Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, as well as former SC judge Justice Manzoor Ahmed Malik, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan, and Pakistan Bar Council representative Akhtar Hussain.
The last JCP meeting, held on May 3, was inconclusive after the law minister indicated the federal government’s plans to introduce constitutional amendments that would change the current process for appointing judges to superior courts.
The JCP’s rule-making committee has recommended that the chairperson (CJP) should forward three names for each Supreme Court vacancy and convene a JCP meeting for deliberation no later than 15 days before the vacancy occurs. For the appointment of high court chief justices, a meeting should be convened at least a month before the vacancy, considering the five most senior judges of the relevant high court.
In the case of high court judge appointments, the chairperson should solicit nominations from the relevant selection committee no later than 60 days before the vacancy and convene a commission meeting for deliberations no later than 30 days prior to the vacancy.
One of the private member bills, introduced by PML-N’s Danyal Chaudhry, seeks to amend the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act 1997 to increase the number of Supreme Court judges from 17 to 22. Article 176 of the Constitution empowers the president to determine the Supreme Court’s strength, allowing for flexibility in the number of judges.
Senior counsel Muhammad Akram Sheikh, recalling the history of the current SC strength, noted that the Nawaz Sharif government had reduced the number of judges from 17 to 12 in 1997. As then-president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Sheikh challenged this decision, leading to a reversal of the legislation and a return to 17 judges.
Sheikh argued that a strong and independent judiciary is crucial for a stable democracy and warned that any attempt to increase the number of judges could be perceived as an effort to influence the apex court, particularly in light of the July 12 judgment on reserved seats. He emphasized that increasing the number of judges undermines judicial independence and suggested that efficiency improvements and the induction of ad hoc judges, rather than increasing the statutory strength, could better address the heavy caseload.
In a related development, an informed source revealed that the Supreme Court has asked the chief justices of the five high courts to identify potential candidates for appointment as additional judges, aiming to fill at least five vacancies in each high court promptly.
