Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Farooq H. Naek has resigned as the party’s representative in the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), sources said on Tuesday.
Following his resignation, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari could become a member of the Judicial Commission, while the party may also nominate another representative, according to sources.
Naek played a key role in the commission after the 26th Constitutional Amendment and was involved in the process of appointing judges to the higher judiciary. He was also part of the process for appointing judges to the Federal Constitutional Court.
The Judicial Commission was expanded after the 26th Amendment to include parliamentary members alongside members from the judiciary and other legal institutions. The commission is responsible for appointments to the superior judiciary.
Sources said Bilawal had earlier expressed reservations about the JCP meetings held on July 20 and 21. The PPP had also reportedly raised concerns during the commission’s previous meeting over the role of PML-N members in the appointment of judges to the Sindh High Court.
According to sources, the PPP questioned why PML-N’s representatives on the commission did not support the party’s preferred candidates for the Sindh High Court.
Sources further said the commission recently secured the required judicial-side majority for the first time after the 26th Amendment, raising concerns within the PPP over the balance between judicial and parliamentary representation in the commission.
The JCP currently has 13 members, including parliamentary representatives and a woman/technocrat member. The parliamentary representation was introduced through constitutional changes aimed at giving parliament a role in the judicial appointment process.
Meanwhile, sources said PML-N’s JCP member Sheikh Aftab Ahmad has also resigned.
New members will soon be nominated from both houses of Parliament, sources said.
According to the sources, PML-N will nominate a new member from the Senate, while the PPP will nominate one of its members from the National Assembly.
Sources said the terms of the existing parliamentary members of the Judicial Commission have completed two years and that the new nominations are part of the normal process for reconstituting the commission.
The new nominations are expected to be announced shortly.
