ISLAMABAD – The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) has issued a formal notice establishing separate interview committees to assess candidates for appointment as additional judges in the Lahore, Islamabad, Sindh, and Balochistan High Courts, with no Supreme Court judge participating in any panel.
The notice, dated Wednesday and obtained by *Dawn*, cites Rule 10A of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (Appointment of Judges) Rules 2024 and has been approved by the JCP chairperson, the Chief Justice of Pakistan.
Each committee is mandated to interview nominees by July 4 2026 for the Lahore, Islamabad, Sindh, and Balochistan High Courts.
Although the panels differ slightly in their judicial composition, all four draw their members exclusively from the Federal Constitutional Court or the relevant high courts, deliberately omitting Supreme Court judges.
The Lahore and Islamabad High Courts each receive a seven‑member panel chaired by FCC Judge Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi. Members comprise LHC Chief Justice Aalia Neelum, IHC Chief Justice Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan, Senators Farooq Hamid Naek and Syed Ali Zafar, and Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon of the Supreme Court Bar Association.
The Sindh High Court panel is chaired by FCC Judge Aamer Farooq and includes LHC Chief Justice Aalia Neelum, SHC Chief Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput, the Attorney General, the two Senators, and Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon.
The Balochistan High Court panel also names Justice Aamer Farooq as chair, with BHC Chief Justice Muhammad Kamran Khan Malakhail replacing the Sindh chief justice; the remaining members are the same as in the other panels.
This notification arrives amid a period of stalled judicial appointments in the high courts, which had remained unresolved after the 27th Constitutional Amendment failed to provide revised procedural rules.
The amendment granted the commission authority to devise its own procedural rules, including criteria for assessing, interviewing, evaluating, and determining the fitness of judges for appointment.
According to *Dawn*, the JCP’s Rule‑Making Committee convened on May 6 to deliberate on appointment criteria and procedures. The committee included Justice Aamer Farooq, Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan, Senators Naek and Zafar, and bar representative Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon, who reviewed several proposals.
It is reported that Senator Zafar had advocated for the full JCP to interview each candidate at the time of nomination, whereas Senator Naek proposed that a seven‑member sub‑committee conduct the interviews and present recommendations to the commission. The final notification adopts Senator Naek’s approach.
Sources also revealed that Bhoon had suggested a five‑member committee composed of two judges from the FCC or Supreme Court, a parliamentarian, the Attorney General, and a Pakistan Bar Council representative; this proposal was not adopted.
