The Judicial Commission of Pakistan appointed on Tuesday Justice Amin-ud-din Khan as the head of the constitutional bench in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

“Following a vote, the majority (7 out of 12) approved a seven-member Constitutional Bench with representation from all the four provinces for a term of two months,” said a statement from the JCP secretary.

Justice Amin-ud-din Khan is the fourth senior-most judge in the apex court.

Justice Khan along with Justice Ayesha Malik would represent Punjab on the bench while Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail would represent Balochistan.

Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi will represent Sindh while Justice Musarrat Hilali will represent KP on the bench.

The JCP reconstituted under the 26th Constitutional Amendment, convened its first meeting at the SC, Islamabad.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Yahya Afridi, who is the JCP chairman, presided over the meeting.

Justices Mansoor Ali Shah, Munib Akhtar, Amin-ud-Din Khan; Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar; Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan; PPP Senator Farooq Hamid Naek; PTI Senator Syed Shibli Faraz, PML-N Sheikh Aftab Ahmad; PTI MNA Omar Ayub Khan,; and Ms. Roshan Khurshid Bharucha attended the meeting.

At the outset, Ayub objected to the quorum of the commission highlighting the absence of one member.

“This objection was later put to a vote and by majority, the meeting affirmed that the proceedings are in consonance with the Constitution and can continue in the absence of one member,” it said.

The commission discussed the establishment of a dedicated secretariat to support and perform its functions and, after thorough consideration, the commission authorised the chairman to proceed with its rule making and establishment.

The JCP also considered the formation of a constitutional bench within the Supreme Court to consider constitutional matters/cases.

CJP Afridi expressed the views of the judges regarding the constitutional bench under Article 175(A) of the Constitution and suggested certain duration of the cench. Other participants also expressed their views on the matter which was considered and thoroughly debated.

“This initial session of the reconstituted Judicial Commission marks a procedural step in advancing the functions of the Commission under the new framework provided by the 26th Constitutional Amendment,” it said.

The government narrowly passed constitutional amendments on October 21 giving lawmakers more power to appoint top judges, who have issued a series of recent decisions favouring opposition chief Imran Khan.

Under the reforms, new benches would be formed of senior judges from across the country to weigh exclusively on constitutional issues, at the core of disputes between the government and PTI in the Supreme Court.

Last week, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq nominated five members for the formation of a JCP for the appointment of judges in the higher judiciary. He wrote a letter to the Supreme Judicial Commission regarding forming a judicial commission to appoint judges in the higher judiciary.

According to the 26th Amendment, five members of Parliament are to be included in the judicial commission.

The nomination of names from Parliament is on the basis of equal representation from both the government and the opposition. The Supreme Court has received all nominations.

Sadiq forwarded names after consulting Senate Chairman Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani and all the parliamentary parties. The female member, Roshan Khursheed Bharucha, of the commission hails from Balochistan and is a former senator.

“The new face of JCP will have CJP, four senior-most SC judges, four parliamentarians – two each from Senate and the National Assembly [one each from treasury and opposition], law minister, and the AGP. NA speaker will nominate people from marginalised communities outside of parliament. Those who are qualified as technocrats for the Senate. The civil society has been made part of it. The PBC is already part of it,” Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said when the cabinet approved the amendment on October 20.

On Monday, the treasury bulldozed bills related to the Supreme Court and armed forces in the National Assembly. Moreover, it took minutes for the Senate to pass the bills.

The bill proposed adding Article 191A to the Constitution, which relates to the formation of constitutional benches, to the preamble. The preamble of the 2023 act stated: “[…] Article 191 of the Constitution allows the Supreme Court to create rules that govern its practice and procedures.”