The Judicial Commission of Pakistan recommended on Tuesday to elevate Justice Aamer Farooq to the post of the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court.

A meeting of the Judicial Commission was held in Islamabad under the chairmanship of Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umer Ata Bandial.

The JCP is a constitutional forum which recommends names of jurists to be appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court. The commission comprises nine members, i.e. the chief justice of Pakistan, the four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, the federal law minister, the attorney general of Pakistan, a retired judge of the Supreme Court and a nominee of the Pakistan Bar Council.

In the meeting, after recommending the appointment of Justice Athar Minullah as a Supreme Court judge, the name of the senior-most judge of the High Court, Justice Aamer Farooq, was considered for the appointment of the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court.

After deliberation, the commission recommended the appointment of Justice Aamer Farooq as IHC chief justice.

It should be noted that Justice Aamer Farooq was appointed as a judge of Islamabad High Court in January 2015.

In its last meeting on Oct 24, the commission unanimously approved appointment of Justice Minallah to the Supreme Court. It also approved the candidature of LHC’s Justice Shahid Waheed and SHC’s Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi with a majority of five to four. The name of Justice Mohammad Shafi Siddiqui of the SHC was dropped.