President Zardari gives nod to additional judges' appointments to high courts after days-long delay

After a lengthy delay, President Asif Ali Zardari gave his approval on Tuesday to appoint additional judges to various high courts. The Presidency announced that he had approved the appointment of extra judges in the Lahore High Court, Sindh High Court, Peshawar High Court, Islamabad High Court, and Balochistan High Court. Additionally, he also approved the confirmation of certain extra judges for the Sindh and Lahore High Courts as permanent judges.

These appointments and confirmations had been pending since July 20-21 when the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) recommended them. The JCP had also recommended an additional judge for the Peshawar High Court, a six-month extension for an Sindh High Court judge, and the appointment of 19 new judges to the Lahore, Islamabad, Sindh and Balochistan high courts.

Under a specific constitutional clause, the recommendations were forwarded to the prime minister who then informed the president. However, the summary remained pending with the president as his legal team raised objections to the JCP proceedings, citing the rejection of nearly all nominees proposed by the PPP and some candidates with criminal records.

Due to this delay, several judges lost their tenure, and there were practical complications affecting the functioning of the superior judiciary. The government examined the possibility of invoking a constitutional article to issue the notifications, but later maintained that notifications could be issued at this stage. The government’s legal team planned to pursue an 'out-of-court' settlement with the Presidency’s legal team, who argued that the timeline for the president’s action was not specified in Article 175-A, and that he could act at his discretion.

Meanwhile, a petition challenging the delay in the president's approval was filed in the IHC, which reserved its verdict on the maintainability of the petition.