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President Asif Ali Zardari approved 19 additional judges for five high courts and confirmed five permanent judges. The move ends a weeks-long tussle with the federal government and clears a stalled judicial process.
Islamabad,UPDATED: Aug 11, 2026 17:14 IST
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday approved the appointment of 19 additional judges to five high courts and confirmed five others as permanent judges, ending a weeks-long deadlock between the president's office and the federal government over judicial appointments.
The Judicial Commission of Pakistan had last month recommended 24 names for appointment to the superior judiciary, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had forwarded the summary to Zardari for approval. The matter had remained pending for weeks, and the delay was also challenged in the Islamabad High Court last week.
According to the Presidency, “The president has approved the appointment of additional judges in the Lahore High Court (LHC), Sindh High Court (SHC), Peshawar High Court (PHC), Islamabad High Court (IHC), and Balochistan High Court (BHC).” The approval includes 10 additional judges for the LHC and three each for the IHC, SHC and BHC. Four additional judges of the PHC were confirmed as permanent judges, along with an additional judge of the LHC.
The approval had been delayed after Zardari's legal team said that nearly all nominees proposed by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), of which he is co-chairman, had been rejected by the Judicial Commission. Sources familiar with the development said the approval followed backchannel communication between the two sides, though it was not immediately clear what led to the breakthrough.
Earlier, the oath-taking ceremony for the judges had been fixed for July 27 but was postponed indefinitely after Zardari neither approved the summary nor returned it for reconsideration. The delay had triggered a dispute between the presidency and the government, with the government's legal team arguing that under the constitutional process, the president was required to act on the prime minister's advice.
The development comes amid differences between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), led by Prime Minister Sharif and his brother Nawaz, and the PPP. The two parties are coalition partners in the federal government, but they contested against each other in the recent elections in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, where the PPP accused the PML-N of rigging. The latest move resolves the immediate impasse over the judicial appointments.
With PTI Inputs
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Published By:
India Today Web Desk
Published On:
Aug 11, 2026 17:14 IST
