A draft of the government’s proposed 26th Constitutional Amendment has unveiled the process of the appointment of the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP).
Ruling out the scenario of the most senior judge being appointed the Chief Justice of Pakistan, it has been suggested in Constitutional Amendments that the appointment shall be made from among the three most senior judges of the Supreme Court on the recommendation of a special parliamentary committee.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Yahya Afridi are in the running on the basis of seniority.
Eight members of the National Assembly and four members of the Senate will be part of the 12 members of the special parliamentary committee.
The majority of the special parliamentary committee will be from the ruling government.
The proposed Constitutional Amendments further suggested that if the National Assembly is dissolved, then all committee members will be from the Senate.
However, the special parliamentary committee will send the name of the judge to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, and then the President will give consent to the appointment of the top court judge.
The next senior judge’s name would be considered for the CJP if the Prime Minister rejects the special committee’s proposed judge name, and the process will continue until the CJP is appointed.
The majority of the special parliamentary committee would be responsible for sending the name of the nominated judge to the Prime Minister prior to 14 days of retirement of the CJP.
No decision or action of the commission or committee shall be questioned or deemed illegal following the vacancy in membership or the absence of any member in the special parliamentary committee, the 26th constitutional amendment concluded.
