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ISLAMABAD – A twelve-member Special Parliamentary Committee was constituted late Monday for the appointment of next Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP). This special committee will hold an in-camera session at the Parliament House at 4:00 today to decide the name of next chief justice, says a notification issued by the National Assembly Secretariat late Monday night.
The move comes as the deadline nears regarding the appointment of next top judge following the retirement of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Qazi Faez Isa who is set to retire on October 25.
The coalition government swiftly started the process of appointing the new top judge of the apex court a hours after the enactment of the 26th Constitutional Amendment.
Since the President has given assent to the constitutional package, National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq notified the Special Parliamentary Committee. The committee consists of the members as per nominations by the respective Parliamentary Leaders based on their strength in the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) for the nomination of the Chief Justice of Pakistan under clause (3) of Article 175A of the Constitution. According to the notification, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, MNA, Mr Ahsan Iqbal, MNA, Ms Shaista Pervaiz Malik, MNA, Raja Pervez Ashraf, MNA, Syed Naveed Qamar, MNA, Ms Rana Ansar, MNA, Mr Gohar Ali Khan, MNA, Sahibzada Muhammad Hamid Raza, MNA, Senator Farooq Hamid Nack, Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar, Senator Syed Ali Zafar and Senator Kamran Murtaza are notified as the members of the committee.
In terms of clause (3B) of Article 175A of the Constitution of the Pakistan, Speaker National Assembly notified the body. Earlier, Speaker National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq sought nomination from the upper house of the parliament for the nomination of the special parliamentary Article 175A of the Constitution.
The 26th constitutional amendment was separately approved by both the houses of the parliament (National Assembly and Senate).
President Asif Ali Zardari signed the constitutional amendment on the same day after it was approved from both the houses of the parliament with two third majority.
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. According to the formula, every 39 members of the National Assembly will grant a political party one seat in the committee, while in the Senate, every 21 members will qualify a party for one seat.
The Parliamentary Parties shall have proportional representation on the committee based on their strength in Parliament, to be nominated by their respective Parliamentary Leaders.
Following the approval of the 26th constitutional amendment, a formula has been finalised for the representation of parliamentary parties in the special committee tasked with the appointment of the Chief Justice of Pakistan.
As expected, the PML-N led ruling coalition in the centre got two-thirds majority in the special parliamentary committee formed by the Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq to nominate the next chief justice (CJ) of Supreme Court for a fixed term of three years.
The committee that has been summoned today to finalise the name of the next CJ, with two-thirds majority, among a list of three senior most judges of the apex court.
The three senior most judges are Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Munib Akhtar and Yahya Afridi. The position of CJ fell vacant after the retirement of Qazi Faez Isa on October 25. As all political parties sent their nominations to the speaker and the chairman Senate on Monday, the multi-party coalition got a comfortable position to dominate the 12-member party with nine votes against three votes of the opposition PTI or Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
On Sunday night, the parliament had passed the 26th Amendment that changed the procedure for the appointment of chief justice of Pakistan. An amendment in Article 175A of the constitution gave powers to the parliamentary committee to nominate the CJ among a list of three senior judges by doing away with the previous practice of appointment on the basis of seniority for the coveted position.
Earlier in the day, Speaker NA Sadiq wrote to the Chairman Senate Yousaf Raza Gilani to nominate four members for the committee from the upper house of the parliament.
Under clause 3B of the Article 175A, the parliamentary parties in the NA and Senate shall have proportional representation on the committee, based on their strength in either house.
Separately, the NA Secretariat wrote letters to parliamentary leaders of PPP, PML-N, PTI and MQM-P to nominate their representatives for the committee. On the instruction of the chairman Senate, the Senate Secretariat did the same.
Senate Chairman Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani forwarded nominations to the National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq for formation of a Special Parliamentary Committee under Article 175A of the Constitution. In a letter issued today, the Chairman of the Senate conveyed the names of four nominated senators from various parliamentary parties.
The nominees include Senator Farooq Hamid Naek from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar from the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), Senator Syed Ali Zafar from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and Senator Kamran Murtaza from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Pakistan. (JUI-P).