The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) has nominated new chief justices for the four high courts, as per an official statement issued by the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
The JCP held four consecutive meetings to deliberate on the appointments and, by majority vote in each session, decided to continue with the acting chief justices by nominating them to the top posts officially.
Nominations Include:
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Justice Sarfraz Dogar as Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC)
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Justice Rozi Khan Barrech as Chief Justice of the Balochistan High Court (BHC)
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Justice Syed Muhammad Attique Shah as Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court (PHC)
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Justice Junaid Ghaffar as Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court (SHC)
Formal letters have been sent to the prime minister’s principal secretary, requesting the government to forward the nominations to the president for final approval.
Earlier, President Asif Ali Zardari had declared Justice Sarfraz Dogar as the “senior-most judge” of the IHC, following a revised seniority list issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice. This move came after a Supreme Court ruling on June 19, which upheld the legality of transferring three judges from other provincial high courts and referred the seniority issue to the president.
However, the decision remains controversial, as five IHC judges have recently challenged the Supreme Court verdict that validated the transfer of Justices Sarfraz Dogar (from LHC), Khadim Hussain Soomro (from SHC), and Muhammad Asif (from BHC).
President Zardari also confirmed the status of these judicial transfers, potentially setting the stage for further debate over judicial independence and constitutional interpretation.
