The swearing-in ceremony for the newly appointed judges of the Supreme Court has been delayed until tomorrow (Friday).
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Yahya Afridi was set to administer the oath to six regular judges and one ad hoc judge at the Supreme Court building today. However, according to sources, the ceremony was postponed due to a delay in the issuance of the official notification regarding their appointments.
Meanwhile, Justice Sarfaraz Doggar has been designated as the Acting Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) until a permanent chief justice is appointed. Additionally, Justice Junaid Ghaffar has been named the Acting Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court (SHC), Justice Ijaz Swati for the Balochistan High Court (BHC), and Justice S.M. Ateeq Shah for the Peshawar High Court (PHC).
On Monday, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), chaired by CJP Justice Yahya Afridi, approved the elevation of Chief Justice Islamabad High Court Aamer Farooq, Chief Justice Sindh High Court Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui, Chief Justice Balochistan High Court Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, and Chief Justice Peshawar High Court Ishtiaq Ibrahim to the Supreme Court. According to a press release issued after the meeting, the JCP also approved the promotion of Sindh High Court’s Justice Salahuddin Panhwar to the Supreme Court.
The statement further mentioned that the commission, by a majority vote, nominated these judges for appointment to the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Additionally, the JCP approved the nomination of Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb from the Islamabad High Court as an Acting Judge of the Supreme Court.
Prior to this development, four sitting Supreme Court judges had written to Chief Justice Yahya Afridi, urging him to halt new appointments to the apex court until a verdict was reached in the 26th Amendment case.
