Justice Yahya Afridi is likely to become the next Chief Justice of Pakistan if the newly proposed constitutional package gets parliament’s approval. The package unanimously passed by a parliamentary committee defines a new process to select the Chief Justice and gives a leading role to a Special Parliamentary Committee in that process.
Sources in treasury benches opine that Yahya Afridi is likely to be the first in line for the post as the three seniors are eligible one after the other once Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa steps down. Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, and Justice Yahya Afridi will be available. Of these, Afridi is non-controversial and neutral, sources claim.
In the proposed constitutional package, there is a new mechanism under which the Chief Justice of Pakistan is to be selected from among the three senior-most Supreme Court judges on the recommendation of a Special Parliamentary Committee. The nominee of this committee is then to be forwarded to the Prime Minister who will send it to the President for formal appointment.
The Special Parliamentary Committee, that will be proposed under this package, will consist of twelve members from the National Assembly and four from the Senate. The committee would possess an overwhelming majority of the treasury benches; thus its decisions would be in favor of the government.
Regarding party representation, each political party shall have proportional representation in committee reflecting party strength in Parliament. Nominations for Chief Justice should be done before retirement fourteen days of the incumbent.
It would mainly relate appointments of Pakistan’s Chief Justice to a more structured and transparent process where parliamentarians can be involved and how seniority and neutrality in the selection are valued.
To Read More: News