PPP seeks greater sway in judiciary as Farooq H Naek pitches 33 nominees for high court judgeships

Legal experts debate ruling party's expanding influence under post-26th Amendment landscape ahead of critical Judicial Commission meetings.

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is positioning itself for a significantly larger role in the superior judiciary, with senior legal leader and Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) member Senator Farooq H Naek formally proposing 33 candidates for appointments across four provincial high courts.

The move arrives as Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi convenes upcoming JCP meetings to evaluate additional judges, reigniting an intense national debate surrounding the party’s expanding influence following recent constitutional overhauls.

Political and legal observers note that the PPP’s latest maneuvering closely mirrors strategies from the era of former CJP Abdul Hameed Dogar, when the party successfully appointed numerous loyalist lawyers to the bench, many of whose appointments were subsequently annulled by the Supreme Court’s landmark July 2009 verdict.

Whilst the PPP bore the brunt of intense judicial activism following the 2009 restoration of judges, the passage of the 26th Constitutional Amendment has firmly re-established the party as a dominant force in shaping judicial appointments.

The party’s strategic footprint has already altered court structures, particularly within the Sindh High Court (SHC), the country’s only high court to currently feature constitutional benches.

In November 2024, the PPP successfully steered the JCP nomination of Justice KK Agha to lead these benches, effectively bypassing eight senior jurists. Justice Agha was subsequently elevated to the newly formed Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) following the 27th Constitutional Amendment.

The party also secured numerous appointments across the Lahore, Peshawar, and Sindh high courts over the past year.

Of the 33 fresh recommendations submitted by Naek, the breakdown covers multiple jurisdictions: 16 nominees have been proposed for the SHC, 10 for the Lahore High Court (LHC), five for the Balochistan High Court (BHC), and two for the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

The extensive list features prominent Advocates of the Supreme Court (ASC) alongside sitting district and sessions judges.

The JCP is officially scheduled to meet on July 20 to review the proposed inductions for the IHC, followed by a dedicated session on July 21 to deliberate upon the vacancies within the LHC.