What happened
President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday approved the appointment of additional judges to five high courts, ending a weeks-long impasse over judicial appointments that had also prompted proceedings before the Islamabad High Court.
According to a post on the President of Pakistan’s X account, Zardari approved additional judges for the Lahore, Sindh, Islamabad and Balochistan high courts, as well as the confirmation of additional judges in the Lahore and Peshawar high courts.
The president approved 10 additional judges for the Lahore High Court, three for the Sindh High Court, three for the Islamabad High Court and three for the Balochistan High Court. He also approved the confirmation of four additional judges of the Peshawar High Court and one additional judge of the Lahore High Court. The President’s Office said Zardari had signed all the relevant summaries.
The oath-taking ceremony for three newly appointed additional judges of the Islamabad High Court began the same day. IHC Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar administered the oath to Justice Ayaz Shaukat, Justice Umair Majeed Malik and Justice Shah Rukh Arjumand. IHC judges, Islamabad Advocate General Naveed Hayat Malik, Additional Attorney General Rashid Hafeez, IHC Bar President Wajid Gilani and representatives of the Islamabad Bar Council attended the ceremony.
The impasse
The development came a day after the IHC sought written reports from the federal government and the Ministry of Law on the status of the pending judges’ appointment summaries. The court had been hearing a petition filed against the delay in approving the Judicial Commission of Pakistan’s recommendations for appointments to the high courts. At Monday’s hearing, the IHC had directed the government to explain when the summaries were forwarded to the president and what action had been taken on them.
The impasse had raised a constitutional question over the president’s role in judicial appointments. Zardari had neither approved the Judicial Commission’s recommendations nor returned the summary with objections, prompting questions over whether the Constitution permitted an indefinite delay in acting on judicial appointments.
While the Supreme Court had previously ruled that the president did not have the authority to reject nominations made by the Judicial Commission, Article 175A(8) of the Constitution did not prescribe a timeframe within which the president had to act on the recommendations. Legal experts believed the standoff could ultimately require judicial intervention, particularly on whether a statutory or constitutional deadline should govern presidential action.
Why it matters
In its meetings on 20 and 21 July, the Judicial Commission had recommended the appointment of three additional judges to the IHC, 10 to the LHC, three to the SHC and three to the BHC. It had also recommended the confirmation of four additional judges of the PHC and a six-month extension in the tenure of SHC Additional Judge Justice Khalid Hussain Shahani. However, Justice Shahani’s tenure expired on 28 July before the recommended extension took effect.
Government officials had privately linked the delay to dissatisfaction within the Pakistan Peoples Party over the outcome of the commission’s meetings. According to officials, the party’s preferred nominees for the SHC had failed to secure the commission’s backing, with both judicial and executive members reportedly agreeing that no candidate below the age of 45 should have been appointed.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a summary of published reporting, not independent reporting. Details and the quoted remarks are as carried by the cited source, which was reviewed on 11 August 2026.
- The Express Tribune — "President Zardari approves appointments of additional high court judges, ending weeks-long impasse"11 August 2026 · The presidential approvals, the oath-taking, the Judicial Commission recommendations and the constitutional background.
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