{"id":2514,"date":"2026-08-08T17:40:47","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:40:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/?p=2514"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:40:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:40:47","slug":"efforts-underway-to-break-deadlock-over-judges-appointments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/2026\/08\/08\/efforts-underway-to-break-deadlock-over-judges-appointments\/","title":{"rendered":"Efforts underway to break deadlock over judges&#8217; appointments"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>ISLAMABAD<\/strong>: In a last-ditch effort to break the deadlock over judicial appointments, the government\u2019s legal team has scheduled a meeting with its counterparts at the Presidency on Sunday, as authorities explore the possibility of unilaterally notifying the confirmation and appointment of high court judges.<\/p>\n<p>The development comes as the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has yet to issue its ruling on the\u00a0maintainability of a petition\u00a0challenging President Asif Ali Zardari\u2019s alleged failure to assent to the recommendations of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan.<\/p>\n<p>The JCP, during its\u00a0meetings\u00a0on July 20 and 21, recommended the confirmation of four additional judges of the Peshawar High Court, a six-month extension for an additional judge of the Sindh High Court, and the appointment of 19 additional judges to the Lahore, Islamabad, Sindh and Balochistan high courts.<\/p>\n<p>Under Clause 8 of Article 175-A of the Cons\u00adtitution, the recommendations were forwarded to the prime minister, who then sent the summary to the president. However, the summary has remained pending with the president since then.<\/p>\n<p>Amid the stalemate, the government is examining the possibility of invoking Article 48(1) of the Constitution to issue the notifications through the law ministry, arguing that the president was required to act on the summary within a fortnight of its submission \u2014 a period that has since expired.<\/p>\n<p>However, government functionaries have maintained that with the matter now sub judice, notifications cannot be issued at this stage.<\/p>\n<p>Sources said the government\u2019s legal team planned to pursue an \u201cout-of-court\u201d settlement with its counterparts at the Presidency.<\/p>\n<p>The president\u2019s legal team has raised certain objections to the JCP proceedings, noting that nearly all nominees proposed by the PPP were rejected. They also conveyed that some candidates recommended for appointment have criminal records.<\/p>\n<p>The Presidency\u2019s legal team contends that Article 175-A does not prescribe a specific timeframe for the president\u2019s action and that the provision cannot be overridden by Article 48(1) to bypass the Presidency.<\/p>\n<p>They have also referred to Article 48(2), which empowers the president \u201cto act in his discretion in respect of any matter in respect of which he is empowered by the Constitution to do so\u201d and states that validity of anything done by the president shall not be called into question on any ground whatsoever.<\/p>\n<p>Sources in the Presidency cautioned that any unilateral action in such a sensitive matter would be a \u201cpolitical and legal disaster\u201d. According to them, the only way forward is to reach a consensus through democratic means.<\/p>\n<p>They warned that bypassing the prescribed procedure could trigger significant complications and suggested that any ambiguity regarding Articles 48(1), 48(2) and 175-A(8) should be resolved through mutual consultation between the president and the prime minister rather than through unilateral action.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, government sources maintained that judicial appointments were governed by constitutional provisions and that any deadlock must be resolved strictly in accordance with the Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the IHC has reserved its verdict on the maintainability of a petition filed by advocate Luqman Chaudhary through his counsel Zahid Chaudhry, seeking a direction to the president to approve the summary.<\/p>\n<p>During Thursday\u2019s hearing, Justice Arbab Muh\u00adammad Tahir questioned how the court could issue directions to the president and reserved his order.<\/p>\n<p>It was initially expected that the ruling would be issued the same day, but Justice Arbab left his office without delivering it.<\/p>\n<p>The order was then anticipated on Friday morning, but the file had not been returned from the judge\u2019s chamber by the close of business.<\/p>\n<p>The delay has already created practical complications. Four additional judges of the PHC, whose confirmations were recommended by the JCP,\u00a0ceased to hold office\u00a0after their tenure expired on Aug 4 due to the absence of formal notifications.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, an additional judge of the SHC, whose term was extended by six months,\u00a0relinquished office\u00a0after his tenure expired on July 29.<\/p>\n<p>Minister of State for Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik said the government would resolve the matter within the constitutional framework and in accordance with the principles laid down by the superior courts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ISLAMABAD: In a last-ditch effort to break the deadlock over judicial appointments, the government\u2019s legal team has scheduled a meeting with its counterparts at the Presidency on Sunday, as authorities explore the possibility of unilaterally notifying the confirmation and appointment of high court judges. The development comes as the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has yet [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2515,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-national"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Efforts underway to break deadlock over judges&#039; appointments - Diplomag<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/2026\/08\/08\/efforts-underway-to-break-deadlock-over-judges-appointments\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Efforts underway to break deadlock over judges&#039; appointments - Diplomag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ISLAMABAD: In a last-ditch effort to break the deadlock over judicial appointments, the government\u2019s legal team has scheduled a meeting with its counterparts at the Presidency on Sunday, as authorities explore the possibility of unilaterally notifying the confirmation and appointment of high court judges. 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