ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) has constituted a lager bench headed by Justice Shakirullah Jan to hear the constitutional petitions regarding the delay in appointments of judges in the higher judiciary, Geo News reported Saturday.

The larger bench comprises Justice Shakirullah Jan, Justice Raja Muhammed Fayyaz, Justice Jawwad Owais Khawja, Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Justice Rehmat Hussain Jaffery.

The larger bench will hear the petitions regarding the delay in judges’ appointments on February 18 and 19.

The two-judge bench, during initial hearing of the constitutional petitions against delay in judges’ appointment, sought comprehensive reply from federal government and other parties to the case. The same two-member bench also recommended to Chief Justice of Pakistan to constitute a larger bench to hear the case.

The SC bench also called for the record of recommendations of judges’ appointments sent by the CJs of SC and the four high courts through their registrars.