A parliamentary committee has been formed under the 26th constitutional amendment to nominate the new Chief Justice of Pakistan. The official announcement of the committee includes twelve members—eight from the National Assembly and four from the Senate.
The Senate representatives are:
PTI: Senator Ali Zafar
JUI: Senator Kamran Murtaza
PML-N: Senator Azam Nazir Tarar
PPP: Senator Farooq H. Naik
From the National Assembly, the members are:
PML-N: Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, Shaista Parvez Malik
PPP: Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Naveed Qamar
MQM: Rana Ansar
Sunni Ittehad Council: Barrister Gohar Khan, Sahibzada Hamid Raza
The inaugural meeting of the parliamentary committee is set for today, October 22, at 4 PM, where members will aim to finalize the nomination for the new Chief Justice. The committee must reach a two-thirds majority decision before forwarding the chosen candidate’s name to the Prime Minister for approval. Once the Prime Minister endorses the nomination, an official notification for the appointment will be issued.
This committee’s establishment follows consultations with key parliamentary parties, including PML-N, PPP, JUI, MQM, and the Sunni Ittehad Council. Notably, National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq had communicated with the Senate Chairman to ensure balanced representation within the committee.
As per the new constitutional guidelines, the committee will select the Chief Justice from among the three most senior judges of the Supreme Court, a departure from the previous practice of solely relying on seniority, as specified in Clause 3B of Article 175A of the Constitution.
The 26th amendment, signed into law early Monday by President Asif Ali Zardari on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, has established the Chief Justice’s term at three years or until the judge reaches the retirement age of 65.
According to the current seniority list, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah is the most senior, followed by Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Yahya Afridi. Should any of these judges decline the position, the next most senior judge will be considered.
