Staff Reporter
Islamabad
A Parliamentary Committee on Judges Appointment on Thursday unanimously approved the nomination of Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi for Supreme Court judge, sources said.
A meeting of the committee was held in Parliament on Thursday.
Earlier, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) nominated him for elevation to the Supreme Court. Two members of the JCP – Justice Qazi Faez Isa and (retd) Justice Dost Muhammad Khan – opposed his nomination.
The post fell vacant after the retirement of former CJ Asif Saeed Khosa. It was the incumbent CJ Gulzar Ahmed who had earlier proposed Justice Naqvi’s name.
The Supreme Court comprises of the CJ, sixteen justices and two ad-hoc judges. Once appointed, the judges are expected to complete a designated term and then retire at 65 years of age, unless their term is terminated through resignation or impeachment by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).
Currently, Justice Naqvi is the third senior-most LHC judge and is known for his expertise in criminal law. In case of his elevation, he will work as the Supreme Court judge until August 31, 2025.
Justice Naqvi has authored more than 37,000 judgments including the January 17 order that declared as unconstitutional a special court’s Dec 17, 2019 verdict to award capital punishment to former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf.
