Justice Qazi Faez Isa recommends elevation of SHC, PHC Chief Justices Ahmed Ali Muhammad Shaikh & Ms. Musarrat Hilali to SC
ISLAMABAD, May 01 (SABAH): Senior Puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan Justice Qazi Faez Isa has recommended the names of Sindh High Court (SHC) Chief Justice Ahmed Ali Muhammad Shaikh and Peshawar High Court (PHC) Acting Chief Justice Ms. Musarrat Hilali for elevation to the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
He made the recommendations in a letter sent to all members of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) — a constitutional body that decides appointments to the SC, high courts, and the Federal Shariat Court.
The JCP is headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, the next senior-most four judges, a former chief justice or SC judge, the law minister, the attorney general for Pakistan, and a senior SC advocate nominated by the Pakistan Bar Council.
In his letter, Justice Isa urged that a meeting of the JCP be called soon to decide the appointments. The Supreme Court comprises 17 judges, of which two positions are currently empty.
The JCP meeting should consider the names of the two judges on the seniority principle, he urged.
The JCP had recommended Justice Shaikh’s appointment as an ad hoc judge of the Supreme Court in 2021. However, Sheikh had declined the appointment, and in a letter written to the then-chief justice Gulzar Ahmed and President Dr. Arif Alvi, had said he did not accord his consent to the appointment.
Sheikh had taken oath as the SHC chief justice on March 15, 2017. If Justice Ahmed Ali Muhammad Shaikh will not be elevated to Supreme Court of Pakistan he will retire as CJ SHC on 2nd October 2024 after reaching the 62 years constitutional age of retirement.
Meanwhile, Justice Hilali took oath as the PHC acting chief justice on April 1, 2023 — becoming only the second woman to be appointed as a high court chief justice and the PHC’s first.
The JCP has already recommended her name for regular appointment as the PHC chief justice and a meeting of a parliamentary committee in this regard is scheduled to be held on May 4. If she would not be elevated to Supreme Court of Pakistan, she will retire from her position as CJ PHC on 7th August this year after reaching the constitutional age of retirement of 62 years.