a judge in the high courts. In 1947, the Supreme Court consisted of a Chief Justice and six senior judges from Sindh, Punjab, NWFP, Balochistan, and East Bengal. Over the several successive years, the work of the Court increased and cases began to accumulate, leading the Supreme Court requesting the Parliament to increase the number of judges. As the number of the justices has increased, they sit in smaller benches of two or three (referred to as a division bench), however, coming together in larger benches of five or more (referred to as a constitution bench) when required to settle fundamental questions of law. Eligibility, nomination and confirmation The nomination of justices in the Supreme Court comes from an executive selection made by the Prime Minister based on judges' merited qualifications, personal intellectualism, and experiences as judge in high courts. The President then confirms the nomination summary and eventually appoints the Chief Justice and judges in the Supreme Court. The Constitution states that a nominee is not eligible unless they are: A citizen of Pakistan who: has for a period of, or for periods aggregating, not less than five years been a judge of a High Court (including a High Court which existed in Pakistan at any time before the commencing day); or has for a period of, or for periods aggregating not less than fifteen years been an advocate of a High Court (including a High Court which existed in Pakistan at any time before the commencing day). Since the 1990s, the nomination and confirmation process has attracted considerable attention from the print press and electronic media, as news media often comments on the executive's selection for the appointment. Appointments of Chief Justices Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui, S.A. Shah, Iftikhar Chaudhry, Faisal Arab, and T.H. Jillani Saqib Nisar and Asif Saeed Khosa have gain prominent attention from media in all over the country, mainly due to their ideological and philosophical leanings. Furthermore, the major and influential recommendations for judges to be elevated at the Supreme Court as justices comes from the Judicial Commission that is chaired by the Chief Justice of Pakistan who prepares the qualification summary before the nomination sent to executive. Ad–hoc appointments and removal There has been Ad hoc appointment in the supreme court made when the quorum of Judges is not possible to complete the sitting number of justices in the court, or if it is necessary