President of Pakistan Dr. Arif Alvi on Wednesday approved the appointment of three judges in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Justice Athar Minullah, Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court, Justice Hassan Azhar Naqvi, of Sindh High Court and Justice Shahid Waheed, of Lahore High Court have been elevated to the apex court.
Moreover, Justice Aamir Farooqu has also been elevated to the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court.
The president made the aforesaid appointments under Article 175 of the Constitution.
Earlier on October 25, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) unanimously approved the recommendation to elevate Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah to the Supreme Court, gave a divided nod to two high court judges and dropped outright the suggestion regarding one candidate.
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Consequently, the JCP, which was presided over by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, approved the candidature of Justice Shahid Waheed of the Lahore High Court and Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi of the Sindh High Court (SHC) with a majority of five to four — both fourth on the seniority list of their respective courts — in a twist after two government representatives agreed to the proposal following earlier opposition to it.
The name of Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui of the SHC was dropped from any further consideration.
Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) representative Akhtar Hussain had opposed the nomination of the three judges to the apex court. With the approval, the strength of the Supreme Court increases to 15 —two short to form a full court.
