ISLAMABAD: A 12-member Special Parliamentary Committee, formed for the first time in the country’s history to appoint the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), held its inaugural meeting at the Parliament House on Tuesday.
The in-camera session took place in Room No. 5, with both government and opposition members in attendance. However, members from the opposition’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) did not participate.
The government faces a tight deadline to appoint a new CJP as the current Chief Justice, Qazi Faez Isa, is set to retire on October 25. Previously, the senior puisne judge, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, would have automatically succeeded him under the old law. However, the process has changed with the passage of the 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill.
According to the amendments to clause 3 of Article 175A, the new CJP will be chosen from the three most senior judges of the Supreme Court, based on a two-thirds majority vote from the Special Parliamentary Committee. Justice Mansoor Ali Shah is the most senior, followed by Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Yahya Afridi.
The committee includes senators Azam Nazeer Tarar from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Farooq H Naek from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Syed Ali Zafar from PTI, and Kamran Murtaza from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).
National Assembly members Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, and Shaista Parvez from PML-N; Raana Ansar from Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P); Syed Naveed Qamar and Raja Pervez Ashraf from PPP; and Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Sahibzada Hamid Raza from SIC are also part of the committee.
The process for appointing the new chief justice must be finalized within the next three days, before CJP Isa’s retirement on October 25. As per clause 3C of Article 175A, the committee is required to send its nomination with a two-thirds majority no later than 14 days before the CJP’s retirement. However, for the first nomination under the 26th Constitutional Amendment, the deadline is shortened to three days before the chief justice’s retirement.
If the nominated candidate from the three most senior judges declines, the remaining judges among the top three will be considered for the role.
