The Constitution of Pakistan, 1973 Developed by Zain Sheikh

¹[175A. Appointment of Judges to the Supreme Court, High Courts and the Federal Shariat Court.—(1) There shall be a Judicial Commission of Pakistan, hereinafter in this Article referred to as the Commission, for appointment of Judges of the Supreme Court, High Courts and the Federal Shariat Court, as hereinafter provided.

(2) For appointment of Judges of the Supreme Court, the Commission shall consist of­—

(i)	Chief Justice of Pakistan;	Chairman
(ii)	2[four]most senior Judges of the Supreme Court;	Members
(iii)	a former Chief Justice or a former Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to be nominated by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, in consultation with the3[four] member Judges, for a period of two years:	Member
(iv)	Federal Minister for Law and Justice;	Member
(v)	Attorney-General for Pakistan; and	Member
(vi)	a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan nominated by the Pakistan Bar Council for a term of two years.	Member

(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (1) or clause (2), the President shall appoint the most senior Judge of the Supreme Court as the Chief Justice of Pakistan.

(4) The Commission may make rules regulating its procedure.

(5) For appointment of Judges of a High Court, the Commission in clause (2) shall also include the following, namely:—­

(i)	Chief Justice of the High Court to which the appointment is being made;	Member
(ii)	the most senior Judge of that High Court;	Member
(iii)	Provincial Minister for Law; and	Member
(iv)	4[an advocate having not less than fifteen years practice in the High Court to be nominated by the concerned Bar Council for a term of two years :]	Member

⁵[Provided that for appointment of the Chief Justice of a High Court the most Senior Judge mentioned in paragraph (ii) shall not be member of the Commission.

Provided further that if for any reason the Chief Justice of a High Court is not available, he shall be substituted by a former Chief Justice or former Judge of that Court, to be nominated by the Chief Justice of Pakistan in consultation with the four member Judges of the Commission mentioned in paragraph (ii) of clause (2).]

(6) For appointment of Judges of the Islamabad High Court, the Commission in clause (2) shall also include the following, namely:­

(i)	Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court; and	Member
(ii)	the most senior Judge of that High Court:	Member

Provided that for initial appointment of the ⁶[Chief Justice and the] Judges of the Islamabad High Court, the Chief Justices of the four Provincial High Courts shall also be members of the Commission:

Provided further that subject to the foregoing proviso, in case of appointment of Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court, the provisos to clause (5) shall, mutatis mutandis, apply.

(7) For appointment of Judges of the Federal Shariat Court, the Commission in clause (2) shall also include the Chief Justice of the Federal Shariat Court and the most senior Judge of that Court as its members:

Provided that for appointment of Chief Justice of Federal Shariat Court, the provisos to clause (5) shall, mutatis mutandis, apply.

(8) The Commission by majority of its total-membership shall nominate to the Parliamentary Committee one person, for each vacancy of a Judge in the Supreme Court, a High Court or the Federal Shariat Court, as the case may be;

(9) The Parliamentary Committee, hereinafter in this Article referred to as the Committee, shall consist of the following eight members, namely:­—

(i) four members from the Senate; and

(ii) four members from the National Assembly ⁷[:]

⁷[Provided that when the National Assembly is dissolved, the total membership of the Parliamentary Committee shall consist of the members from the Senate only mentioned in paragraph (i) and the provisions of this Article shall, mutatis mutandis, apply.]

(10) Out of the eight members of the Committee, four shall be from the Treasury Benches, two from each House and four from the Opposition Benches, two from each House. The nomination of members from the Treasury Benches shall be made by the Leader of the House and from the Opposition Benches by the Leader of the Opposition.

(11) Secretary, Senate shall act as the Secretary of the Committee.

(12) The Committee on receipt of a nomination from the Commission may confirm the nominee by majority of its total membership within fourteen days, failing which the nomination shall be deemed to have been confirmed:

⁸[Provided that the Committee, for reasons to be recorded, may not confirm the nomination by three-fourth majority of its total membership within the said period :]

⁹[Provided further that if a nomination is not confirmed by the Committee it shall forward its decision with reasons so recorded to the Commission through the Prime Minister :

Provided further that if a nomination is not confirmed, the Commission shall send another nomination.]

¹⁰[(13) The Committee shall send the name of the nominee confirmed by it or deemed to have been confirmed to the Prime Minister who shall forward the same to the President for appointment.]

(14) No action or decision taken by the Commission or a Committee shall be invalid or called in question only on the ground of the existence of a vacancy therein or of the absence of any member from any meeting thereof.

¹¹[(15) The meetings of the Committee shall be held in camera and the record of its proceedings shall be maintained.

(16) The provisions of Article 68 shall not apply to the proceedings of the Committee.]

¹¹[(17)] The Committee may make rules for regulating its procedure.]

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Footnotes:

1. Section 67 of the Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Act, 2010 (10 of 2010), inserted the new Art. 175A, in its present form, (w.e.f. April 19, 2010).

2. Section 4(a)(i) of the Constitution (Nineteenth Amendment) Act, 2010 (1 of 2011), substituted the said word, in place of the word “two” in paragraph (ii) of clause (2) of Art. 175A, (w.e.f. January 1, 2011).

3. Section 4(a)(i) of the Constitution (Nineteenth Amendment) Act, 2010 (1 of 2011), substituted the said word, in place of the word “two”, occurring for the first time, in paragraph (iii) of clause (2) of Art. 175A, (w.e.f. January 1, 2011).

4. Section 4(b)(i) of the Constitution (Nineteenth Amendment) Act, 2010 (1 of 2011), substituted paragraph (iv) of clause (5) of Art. 175A, in its present form, (w.e.f. January 1, 2011), in place of the said paragraph as adopted by Section 67 of the Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Act, 2010 (10 of 2010), (w.e.f. April 19, 2010).  Paragraph (iv), as adopted in April, 2010, read :

(iv)

a senior advocate to be nominated by the Provincial Bar Council for a term of two years:

Member

5. Section 4(b)(ii) of the Constitution (Nineteenth Amendment) Act, 2010 (1 of 2011), substituted the provisos to clause (5) of Art. 175A, in their present form, (w.e.f. January 1, 2011), in place of the said provisos as adopted by Section 67 of the Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Act, 2010 (10 of 2010), (w.e.f. April 19, 2010).  The provisos, as adopted in April, 2010, read :

Provided that for appointment of the Chief Justice of a High Court, the most senior Judge of the Court shall be substituted by a former Chief Justice or former Judge of that Court, to be nominated by the Chief Justice of Pakistan in consultation with the two member Judges of the Commission mentioned in clause (2):

Provided further that if for any reason the Chief Justice of High Court is not available, he shall also be substituted in the manner as provided in the foregoing proviso.

6. Section 4(c) of the Constitution (Nineteenth Amendment) Act, 2010 (1 of 2011), inserted the said words, after the word “the”, occurring for the first time, in the first proviso to clause (6) of Art. 175A, (w.e.f. January 1, 2011).

7. Section 4(d) of the Constitution (Nineteenth Amendment) Act, 2010 (1 of 2011), substituted a colon, in place of the full stop, at the end of clause (9) of Art. 175A and inserted a new proviso thereto, (w.e.f. January 1, 2011).

8. Section 4(e)(i) of the Constitution (Nineteenth Amendment) Act, 2010 (1 of 2011), substituted the said proviso to clause (12) of Art. 175A, in its present form, (w.e.f. January 1, 2011), in place of the said proviso as adopted by Section 67 of the Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Act, 2010 (10 of 2010), (w.e.f. April 19, 2010).  The proviso, as adopted in April, 2010, read :

Provided that the Committee may not confirm the nomination by three-fourth majority of its total membership within the said period, in which case the Commission shall send another nomination.

9. Section 4(e)(ii) of the Constitution (Nineteenth Amendment) Act, 2010 (_1 of 2011), inserted the new provisos to clause (12) of Art. 175A, (w.e.f. January 1, 2011).

10. Section 4(f) of the Constitution (Nineteenth Amendment) Act, 2010 (1 of 2011), substituted clause (13) of Art. 175A, in its present form, (w.e.f. January 1, 2011), in place of the said clause as adopted by Section 67 of the Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Act, 2010 (10 of 2010), (w.e.f. April 19, 2010).  Clause (13), as adopted in April, 2010, read :

(13) The Committee shall forward the name of the nominee confirmed by it or deemed to have been confirmed to the President for appointment.

11. Section 4(g) of the Constitution (Nineteenth Amendment) Act, 2010 (1 of 2011), renumbered clause (15) of Art. 175A, as clause (17) thereof and inserted new clauses (15) and (16) thereto, (w.e.f. January 1, 2011).

 Leading & Latest Cases on Article 175A of the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973 :

P L D 2011 SC 308	MUNIR HUSSAIN BHATTI AND ANOTHER	FEDERATION OF PAKISTAN THROUGH SECRETARY LAW AND ANOTHER
Review in Judges Extention of Tenure Case	Federation ofPakistan, thr. Secy. M/o Law	Munir Hussain Bhatti & others