The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) has appointed permanent chief justices for the country’s four high courts, according to a statement from the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Following four consecutive meetings, the JCP approved the continuation of acting chief justices by majority vote in each session. Formal recommendations have been sent to the government for onward submission to the president.
The nominees are: Justice Sarfraz Dogar (Islamabad High Court), Justice Rozi Khan Barrech (Balochistan High Court), Justice Syed Muhammad Attique Shah (Peshawar High Court), and Justice Junaid Ghaffar (Sindh High Court).
Earlier, President Asif Ali Zardari had declared Justice Dogar the senior-most judge of the IHC, following a revised seniority list issued by the Law Ministry. This development came after the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of transferring judges across provincial high courts and left seniority matters to the president.
However, five IHC judges have challenged the court’s ruling on the transfers of Justices Dogar, Khadim Hussain Soomro, and Muhammad Asif. President Zardari has since confirmed the transfers as permanent.
