President Asif Ali Zardari has given the go-ahead for the appointment of additional judges across five high courts in the country, an official statement confirmed on Tuesday. The move also included the confirmation of several sitting additional judges as permanent members of the bench.
The high courts affected by this decision include the Lahore High Court, Sindh High Court, Peshawar High Court, Islamabad High Court and Balochistan High Court. Alongside the fresh appointments, the president signed off on converting a number of additional judges at the Lahore and Sindh high courts into permanent judges.
Once Zardari’s approval came through, the Ministry of Law and Justice moved quickly to issue the formal notification confirming the judicial appointments.
Delay Sparked Court Intervention
This latest round of judges appointment comes just one day after the Islamabad High Court demanded explanations from both the president and the prime minister regarding a stalled summary tied to judicial appointments.
At a hearing held on Monday, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir raised concerns over the sluggish pace of approval, noting that more than 18 days had elapsed since the summary was first sent forward. The bench went on to issue formal notices to the offices of the president and prime minister, instructing their secretaries to respond by Tuesday.
The case had been triggered by a petition from advocate Luqman Zafar, who contended that names cleared by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan during sessions held on July 20 and 21 had been routed to the president via the prime minister, in line with Article 175A(8) of the Constitution, yet remained stuck without action.
Following the hearing, the court released a written order instructing the federal government and the Ministry of Law to submit detailed reports on when the summary reached the president’s desk and what steps, if any, followed. The order also asked officials to clarify the constitutional consequences of allowing judicial appointment recommendations to sit unaddressed beyond the allowed timeframe.
Adjustments to Judges’ Pay and Benefits
In a related development, President Zardari signed off on bringing the pay, allowances and pension structure of Supreme Court judges into alignment with those given to judges of the Federal Constitutional Court. He additionally approved revisions to the 1997 order governing leave, pensions and other entitlements for high court judges.
New Adviser Named
In a separate but notable decision issued the same day, the president appointed Haroon Akhtar as Adviser to the Prime Minister on Industries and Production, according to the statement.
