President Asif Ali Zardari has approved the appointment of additional judges to five high courts across Pakistan. On Tuesday he also confirmed several additional judges as permanent members of the Lahore High Court and Sindh High Court. The decisions were announced through an official statement from the Presidency.
The president cleared the appointment of additional judges for the Lahore High Court, Sindh High Court, Peshawar High Court, Islamabad High Court and Balochistan High Court. These approvals arrived just one day after the Islamabad High Court had sought explanations from both the president and the prime minister over a delay in processing a judicial summary.
During Monday’s hearing, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir noted that more than 18 days had passed since the summary was sent for approval. The court issued notices to the president and prime minister through their secretaries and asked for replies by Tuesday. The case began with a petition filed by advocate Luqman Zafar. He pointed out that nominations approved by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan on 20 and 21 July had been forwarded to the president under Article 175A(8) of the Constitution but were still pending.
In its written order the court directed the federal government and the Ministry of Law to explain exactly when the summary reached the president and what action followed. It also asked for clarification on the constitutional effects of leaving such advice pending beyond the usual time frame.
In a separate move, President Zardari approved steps to align the salaries, allowances and pensions of Supreme Court judges with those of judges serving in the Federal Constitutional Court. He further approved amendments to the 1997 order that governs leave, pensions and other service benefits for high court judges. These changes aim to create greater uniformity in judicial service conditions.
Additionally, the president approved the appointment of Haroon Akhtar as Adviser to the Prime Minister on Industries and Production. This decision forms part of the same set of official notifications released on Tuesday.
The approvals address both immediate vacancies in the high courts and longer-term service matters for the superior judiciary. By acting on the pending summaries, the president has cleared the path for new judges to take their places while also updating benefit structures for existing ones. The developments come amid ongoing attention to the timely filling of judicial posts under the constitutional framework.
