IHC Finalizes Three Candidates for Vacant Judgeships

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) administration has finalized three candidates for three vacant judicial positions, sources familiar with the matter told Dawn as the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) readies to consider the appointments.

The names forwarded to the JCP include District and Sessions Judge Shahrukh Arjumand, former Advocate General of Islamabad Ayyaz Shaukat — now Chairman of the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority — and advocate Umair Majeed Malik, according to sources privy to the matter.

This development follows the JCP’s June 19 meeting, during which the commission formally invited nominations from high courts for the vacant judicial posts.

The commission has set July 4 as the deadline for submissions, after which the initial pool of nominees will undergo formal scrutiny under the recently approved 2026 rules.

Several other prominent names had been considered for elevation to the IHC bench before the final selection of the three candidates.

These included tax‑law expert Usman G. Rashid Cheema and advocate Sultan Mazhar Sher Khan. Two incumbent district and sessions judges — including Shahrukh Arjumand and Humayun Dilawar — were also among the leading candidates under consideration.

The finalisation of candidates occurs amid intense lobbying by Islamabad’s legal community, which has been urging that vacancies on the high court be filled by lawyers from the federal capital.

During a joint press conference held last month at the Islamabad High Court Bar Association, representatives of the Pakistan Bar Council, the Islamabad Bar Council, the IHC Bar Association, and the Islamabad District Bar Association called for future appointments to the court to be made exclusively from among Islamabad‑based lawyers.

“The Islamabad High Court belongs to Islamabad, and appointments should be made from the Islamabad Bar,” Pakistan Bar Council member Raja Rizwan Abbasi told reporters, arguing that judges in provincial high courts are typically appointed from within their respective provinces and that the same principle should apply to the federal capital.

The lawyers’ representatives also voiced serious concerns about alleged corruption in the district judiciary and called for broader judicial reforms.

In its June 19 meeting, chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan approved new rules governing the appointment of judges and the criteria for nominations to constitutional benches.

The commission approved the Judges Appointment Rules and amendments to the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (Appointment of Judges) Rules, 2024. Under the approved framework, a seven‑member interview panel has been established to vet prospective candidates for the superior judiciary.

However, sources told Dawn that recommendations from the interview committee will not be legally binding on the main commission, which retains absolute statutory authority to make final determinations by majority vote.

The commission is expected to convene intensive sessions from July 21 to 23 to evaluate and finalise selections for high courts nationwide.

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