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IHC finalises three nominees for judges’ vacancies

• Names forwarded to JCP ahead of scrutiny under new rules • Commission likely to finalise appointments later this month ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) administration has finalised three candidates for three vacant positions of judges, sources familiar with the development told Dawn, as the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) prepares to take up appointments. The names forwarded to the JCP incl­u­­de District and Sessions Judge Shahrukh Arjumand, former Advo­ca­­te General Islamabad Ayyaz Shaukat, who currently serves as Chairman of the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority, and advocate Umair Majeed Malik, according to sources privy to the matter. The development comes as the JCP, in its meeting on June 19, formally invited nominations from high courts for appointment of judges against vacant positions. The commission has set July 4 as the deadline for submissions, following which the initial pool of nominees will undergo formal scrutiny under the recently approved 2026 rules. Several other prominent names had been under consideration for elevation to the IHC bench before the finalisation of the three candidates. These included tax law expert Usman G. Rashid Cheema and advocate Sultan Mazhar Sher Khan. Two serving district and sessions judges, including Shahrukh Arjumand and Humayun Dilawar were also among the leading candidates being considered for elevation. The finalisation of candidates comes against the backdrop of intense lobbying by Islamabad’s legal fraternity, which has been demanding that vacancies in the high court be filled by lawyers belonging to the federal capital. During a joint press conference held last month at the Islamabad High Court Bar Association, representatives of the Pakistan Bar Council, Islamabad Bar Council, IHC Bar Association and Islamabad District Bar Association had demanded that future appointments to the court be made from among Islamabad lawyers. “The Islamabad High Court belongs to Islamabad, and appointments should be made from the Islamabad Bar,” Pakistan Bar Council member Raja Rizwan Abbasi had told reporters, arguing that judges in provincial high courts are generally appointed from within their respective provinces and the same principle should apply to the federal capital. The lawyers’ representatives had also voiced serious concerns over alleged corruption in the district judiciary and called for judicial reforms. The Judicial Commission of Pakistan, in its June 19 meeting chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi, approved new rules related to the appointment of judges and criteria for nominations to constitutional benches. The commission approved the Judges Appointment Rules and amendments to the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (Appointment of Judges) Rules, 2024. Under the approved framework, a seven-member interview panel has been established to vet prospective candidates for the superior judiciary. However, sources told Dawn that recommendations generated by the interview committee will not be legally binding on the main commission, which retains absolute statutory authority to make final determinations through a majority vote. The commission is likely to convene intensive sessions from July 21 to 23 to evaluate and finalise selections for high courts across the country. Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2026