As time runs out for the appointment of Pakistan’s new Chief Justice, the Registrar of the Supreme Court has submitted the names of the top three judges to the special parliamentary committee tasked with making the decision.

According to sources, the names were requested from the outgoing Chief Justice of Pakistan through the court registrar. The three senior judges whose names have been forwarded are Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar and Justice Yahya Afridi.

These names will now be considered by the committee, which will make its final recommendation for the new chief justice. The committee will send its recommendation to the Prime Minister for final approval, who will then forward the name to the President for appointment.

The new 12-member special parliamentary committee will meet today to finalize the name of the new chief justice of Pakistan.

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The meeting, scheduled for 4 p.m., will consider the names of the three most senior justices of the Supreme Court. The decision should be taken by a two-thirds majority and will then be sent to the Prime Minister for approval.

The committee comprises four members from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), three from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and three jointly from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Sunni Ittehad Council. The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) each have one representative on the panel.

The members of the commission come from both houses of Parliament, including four senators and eight members of the National Assembly. PML-N’s Azam Nazir Tarar, Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal and Shaista Parvaiz Malik are among the committee members, along with PPP’s Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Farooq H. Naik and Naveed Qamar.

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The opposition is represented by lawyers Gohar, Ali Zafar and Sahibzada Hamid Raza, while MQM’s Rana Ansar and JUI’s Kamran Murtaza are also part of the decision-making process.

The formation of this special commission follows letters written by the President of the Senate and the President of the National Assembly to the main political parties to appoint members in proportion to their representation in Parliament. A notification has been issued regarding the formation of the committee.

The committee is expected to reach a decision by midnight today, after which the shortlisted name will be forwarded to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who will then send it to the President for formal approval. Upon receipt of presidential consent, a formal notification will be issued and the new Chief Justice of Pakistan will take office.