In an interested development, former Islamabad High Court judge, Justice (retd) Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, along with three other retired judges were chosen as members of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on Friday.
The development came forth following the meeting between the JCP and the Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi.
Apart from Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, other members included Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar, Justice (retd) Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice (retd) Nazir Ahmed Lango in the Judicial Commission of Pakistan.
It should be highlighted that Justice Mian Shakirullah worked as a judge in Peshawar High Court while Justice Nazir Ahmed Lango performed his judicial duties in the Balochistan High Court.
The meeting was chaired by CJP Afridi, during which matters related to other judicial process were also discussed.
The other matter included the elevation of two high court judges to the Supreme Court. The judges who have been promoted to the Supreme Court include Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Justice Ali Baqar Najafi.
Interestingly, his elevation decision was opposed by 4 JCP members and supported by 9 others. Those who opposed Justice Najafi’s elevation included the Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi and Senior puisne Judge Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah.
Advocate Ahsan Bhawan while talking to media about the high-level meeting held by the JCP, stated, “For the first time after the 26th Constitutional Amendment, the government and the opposition made decisions by consensus.”
He further added that the JCP meeting took place in a positive environment. Meanwhile, another upcoming JCP meeting is set to take place on April 18.
In the meeting, the JCP members will consider nominations for the appointment of chief justices of Islamabad High Court, Sindh High Court (SHC), Peshawar High Court (PHC) and Balochistan High Court (BHC).
Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui dismissal as IHC judge declared illegal
It merits a mention that Supreme Court declared the dismissal of former IHC judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui as “illegal” in March, 2024.
The decision was announced by a five-member bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Justice Irfan Saadat. The bench had reserved the verdict on Aziz’s plea in January, 2024.
In his petition, Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui challenged the decision of Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) removing him from office and an Oct 11, 2018 notification because of which he was dismissed for a controversial speech he had delivered at Rawalpindi Bar Association.
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