JCP approves elevation of Justice Aamer Farooq as IHC CJ

ISLAMABAD: Almost a week after recommending the elevation of Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah to the Supreme Court, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) Tuesday approved the nomination of Senior Puisne Judge Justice Aamer Farooq for the coveted post.

The JCP meeting was held under the chairmanship of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial to consider the appointment of IHC CJ.

The meeting was attended by senior judges of the SC, the law minister, the attorney general for Pakistan, representatives of the Pakistan Bar Council, and other members.

Under Article 175-A of the Constitution, JCP recommended for the appointment and confirmation of the judges, whereas the Parliamentary Committee on Judges Appointment endorses these recommendations.

JCP recommends elevation of three judges to SC

On October 24, the JCP recommended the elevation of IHC CJ Minallah and two other judges, one each from the Lahore High Court and the Sindh High Court, to the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

A meeting of the JCP was held at the SC, chaired by the CJP. It was learnt that the commission, after thorough deliberations, approved the names of Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Shahid Waheed of the LHC and Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi of the SHC for their elevation to the Supreme Court. 

The commission, however, deferred the name of Justice Shafi Siddiqui, another judge of the SHC, as the commission's members could not develop consensus over his elevation to the apex court.

Justice Farooq’s profile at a glance

Justice Farooq was born on April 26, 1969. He got his Senior Cambridge certificate in 1986 from St Anthony’s High School Lahore and a Higher Senior Cambridge certificate from Aitchison College in the year 1988.

Farooq secured his LLB degree from London University, UK, and qualified as Barrister-at-Law from Lincoln’s Inn, London in 1993.

He was enrolled as an advocate of the Lahore High Court in 1994 and as an advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 2007.

He established his law practice in Lahore with an office in Islamabad as well, dealing mostly with banking, commercial, tax and civil matters.

From 2009 until his elevation, he was part of the adjunct faculty at Lahore University of Management Sciences.

Farooq took oath as an additional judge of IHC on January 1, 2015, and as a confirmed judge on December 23, 2015.