PTI likely to become part of Judicial Commission of Pakistan

Islamabad: The opposition party in National Assembly, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday announced to join the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), following a special meeting of the party’s political committee last night.

The JCP is responsible for nominating judges for constitutional benches in the Supreme Court and high courts, as per the new Article 191A recently introduced in the 26th Constitutional Amendment.

Clause 1 reads: “There shall be constitutional benches of the Supreme Court, comprising such judges of the Supreme Court and for such term, as may be nominated and determined by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan, from time to time, provided that the constitutional benches may comprise an equal number of Judges from each province.”

The party decided to nominate two members from both houses of parliament for the JCP and write a letter to National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, according to a statement by PTI made public early on Monday morning.

The statement noted that responsibilities of the 13-member commission have increased. It further noted that the judicial commission will monitor the performance of high court judges and prepare their annual performance reports.

“The judicial commission is also empowered to suggest suitable names for high court judges,” the statement said, adding that “one-third of the members of the judicial commission may call a meeting.”

Decisions of the 13-member commission will be made by a simple majority of the members.

“According to Clause D, the absence of any member will not affect the validity of the decision of the commission, and despite the absence, the decision of the commission will be considered valid,” the statement read, going on to note that the JCP will be a long-term commission.

“The role of two members of the opposition is of crucial importance in the decision-making of the commission,” the statement said.

The party’s proposal to join the judicial commission was unanimously approved. The political committee’s decision will be passed on to the core committee for approval and to party founder Imran Khan for final approval.

An official announcement will come after Imran approves of the two names for the JCP.

In the meeting, PTI’s position on the 26th Constitutional Amendment was also reiterated, the statement said.