Islamabad, November 8, 2024 – Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi chaired the second meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), established under the recent 26th Constitutional Amendment, to discuss the formation of a constitutional bench within the Sindh High Court (SHC). The meeting focused on a single agenda: nominating judges to constitutional benches in order to expedite case backlogs.
The session included senior judicial figures, such as Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Ameen-ud-Din Khan, and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail (via video link), as well as SHC Chief Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui. High-ranking officials also attended, including Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Attorney-General Mansoor Usman Awan, and several political representatives: Senator Farooq H. Naek, Senator Syed Shibli Faraz, MNA Sheikh Aftab Ahmad, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub, Sindh Law Minister Zia ul Hassan Lanjar, and a member of the Sindh Bar Council.
Following a comprehensive discussion, the commission unanimously supported SHC Chief Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui’s proposal to nominate all current SHC judges to serve on constitutional benches. This decision aims to facilitate the swift processing of the extensive backlog of cases in the Sindh High Court.