PM Shahbaz appoints three Judges to GB chief court
As chairman of the Gilgit-Baltistan Council, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has appointed three judges to the region's chief court and extended the tenure of another three for a year.
In a notification from the ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan on Saturday, on the advice of GB’s governor, who is also the council’s vice chairman, the premier appointed district and sessions judge Mushtaq Muhammad and advocates Jahanzeb Khan and Javed Ahmed as chief court judges for a year under Article 84(10) of the Government of Gilgit-Baltistan Order, 2018.
Another notification said the prime minister extended the term of Justice Malik Inayatur Rehman and Justice Raja Shakeel Ahmed for a year with effect from Sep 16.
The three posts filled on Saturday had been lying vacant for many years while the tenure of judges who got extensions had also expired.
The GB chief court — which has equal status as of other high courts of Pakistan and whose decisions can be appealed to the Supreme Appellate Court Gilgit-Baltistan — will now have seven judges, including its chief judge, Justice Ali Baig.
The posts of two judges and the chief justice of the GB supreme appellate court are still vacant, with Justice Wazir Shakeel serving as its acting chief justice.