Constitutional Bench’s term extended until November 30

ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on Thursday, by a majority of its total membership, extended the term of the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench until Nov 30, 2025. The bench’s term was due to expire this month.

Under the 26th Amendment, a seven-judge constitutional bench was constituted on Nov 5, 2024, for an initial period of 60 days. The bench comprised Justices Aminuddin Khan, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Moha­mmad Ali Mazhar, Ayesha A. Malik, Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Musarrat Hilali, Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Shahid Bilal Hassan. In December, its tenure was extended by six months.

In February, the bench was expanded to 13 members with the inclusion of Justices Hashim Khan Kakar, Salahuddin Panhwar, Shakeel Ahmad, Aamer Farooq and Ishtiaq Ibrahim.

The JCP held two meetings on Thursday. The agenda for the first session included considering the extension of the CB’s term and deciding on a policy for drafting rules to set up effective standards for the annual performance evaluation of high court judges under Article 175A(20) of the Constitution.

In the second session, the JCP reviewed the term and composition of the CB of the Sindh High Court.

During its first meeting on Thursday, the JCP approved, by majority vote, an extension of the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench until the end of November this year.

The commission, by majority, extended the term for a further six months from July 23, nominating Justice Adnan Iqbal Chaudhry and Justice Jaffar Raza, while replacing Justice Agha Faisal and Justice Sana Akram Minhas.

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi also formed a broad-based committee to evaluate the judicial performance of judges across all high courts. The committee, which includes representatives from the judiciary, parliament, the executive and the legal fraternity, will prepare draft rules for the annual performance evaluation of high court judges.

Subsequently, the JCP issued a fresh agenda to hold another session next month to consider the appointment of chief justices for the high courts of Islamabad, Sindh, Peshawar and Balochistan.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2025