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

After a days-long delay, President Asif Ali Zardari gave his assent to the appointment and confirmation of additional judges for various high courts on Tuesday. “The president has approved the appointment of additional judges in the Lahore High Court (LHC), Sindh High Court (SHC), Peshawar High Court, Islamabad High Court, and Balochistan High Court,” the Presidency said in a statement, adding that he had also given his assent to the confirmation of certain additional judges of the SHC and LHC as permanent judges.

The appointments and confirmations were pending since July 20 and 21, when the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) — the body responsible for appointing judges to the superior judiciary — recommended them. The JCP had recommended the confirmation of four additional judges of the Peshawar High Court, a six-month extension for an additional judge of the SHC, and the appointment of 19 additional judges to the Lahore, Islamabad, Sindh and Balochistan high courts. Under Clause 8 of Article 175-A of the Cons­titution, the recommendations were forwarded to the prime minister, who then sent the summary to the president. However, the summary had remained pending with the president since then. Meanwhile, the delay in the presidential assent had begun to affect the functioning of the superior judiciary.

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