PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has appointed nine lawyers as Additional District and Sessions Judges on a temporary basis. The move comes during ongoing boycott by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council across the province.
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The appointments were made on the recommendation of the Election Committee under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Judicial Service Rules, according to an official notification issued by the court. The newly appointed judges include Imranullah Khan, Ilyas Ahmed, Shahab Alam Shah, Humaira Gul, Faraz Ahmed, Taimoor Khan, Aamir Anjum, Imran Khan, and Sajjad Ahmed.
This development comes as legal and judicial circles in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remain active on multiple fronts.
A lawyers’ convention was also held today at the PHC to address the growing concerns about the protection of lawyers and the integrity of the judiciary. The convention saw participation from the PHC Bar Association, District Bar Association, and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council. Prominent speakers highlighted the need to uphold judicial impartiality and safeguard the legal community.
Earlier in the day, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council announced a boycott of court proceedings across the province. The protest comes in response to what the Council called “special privileges” allegedly extended to the Station House Officer (SHO) of Charsadda, who has been nominated in the murder case of a lawyer in Peshawar.
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In a strongly worded statement, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council criticised the judiciary and administration for what it described as “regrettable” concessions to the SHO, stating that all accused persons should be treated equally under the law.
The newly appointed judges are expected to assume their responsibilities in the coming days, even as calls for judicial accountability continue to dominate the legal discourse in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.