ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday approved the appointment of three additional judges in the Peshawar High Court (PHC).

Kamran Hayat Miankhel, Muhammad Ijaz Khan and Muhammad Faheem Wali have been appointed as additional judges in Peshawar High Court for one year. The appointment is made under Article 175 of the Constitution. The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) last month had approved six names for the appointment as additional judges of Peshawar High Court.

A JCP meeting, chaired by then Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed, had considered the elevation of three district and sessions judges – Fazal Subhan, Shahid Khan and Dr Khurshid Iqbal – and three lawyers – Kamran Hayat Miankhel, Muhammad Ijaz Khan and Muhammad Faheem Wali.

The six were nominated by the chief justice of the Peshawar High Court (PHC). During the meeting Justice Qazi Faez Isa had urged the JCP members to first evolve criteria regarding the appointment of superior court judges.

He later abstained from the proceedings to consider the nominations. Justice Maqbool Baqar and Justice Sardar Tariq Masood had questioned the nominations of district and sessions judges as they were nominated against the seniority principle. Later, three senior-most district and sessions judges of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were ignored. Justice Baqar and Justice Tariq Masood had opposed the nominations of the lower judiciary judges.