ISLAMABAD: Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has sought nominations from the Senate for the formation of the Special Parliamentary Committee under Article 175A of the Constitution.

In a letter to Chairman Senate Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, the Speaker requested the nomination of four members from the Upper House.

Under Article 175A of the Constitution, the Special Parliamentary Committee will nominate the Chief Justice of Pakistan from amongst the three most senior judges of the Supreme Court.

The committee shall comprise twelve members, including eight from the National Assembly and four from the Senate. The Parliamentary Parties shall have proportional representation on the committee based on their strength in Parliament, to be nominated by their respective Parliamentary Leaders.

The Senate Secretariat, on the other hand, has asked the parliamentary parties, present in the Upper House, to nominate one Senator each for the Special Parliamentary Committee.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, senior puisne judge, is the senior-most judge on the seniority list who can be named as the next chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) after Qazi Faez Isa’s retirement on October 25 as the top judge.

After serving as the Lahore High Court (LHC) chief justice for almost two years, Justice Shah was elevated to the SC in early 2018.

Born in 1963, Justice Munib Akhtar, was elevated to the Supreme Court in 2018 and he is the second senior-most judge on the seniority list to be selected for the post of the chief justice.

As per the seniority list, Justice Yahya Afridi is the third senior-most judge and he served as the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) chief justice from December 30, 2016, until his elevation to the SC in 2018.