Former Supreme Court Judge, Justice (Retired) Mushir Alam, has declined the appointment as an ad-hoc judge through a letter sent to the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on Tuesday.
Expressing his gratitude, Justice Alam wrote, “God has honoured me beyond my position… I am thankful to the Judicial Commission for the honour of being reappointed as an ad-hoc judge.”
Justice Alam cited disappointment with the social media campaign that emerged following his nomination as a significant reason for his decision. “The campaign on social media after the nomination of ad-hoc judges has been deeply discouraging,” the letter read.
“In the current circumstances, I regret that I am unable to serve as an ad-hoc judge,” he conveyed.
Yesterday, Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa proposed four retired judges for appointment as ad-hoc judges for three years in the apex court. The nominees included Mushir Alam, Mazhar Alam Miankhel, Maqbool Baqar, and Sardar Tariq Masood.
To consider the nominees, the chief justice summoned the JCP meeting on July 19.
The summary, sent by CJP Isa to all JCP members, stated that after reviewing the Registrar’s note and the statistics about the pendency of cases, it was evident that despite our best efforts, cases continue to accumulate.
“Therefore, due to the large number of pending cases and the ever-increasing trend of new cases in the Supreme Court, an effective way to ensure that more cases are decided than instituted and to reduce, and hopefully eliminate, the backlog of cases pending for several years, it would be appropriate to appoint experienced judges as ad-hoc Judges of the Supreme Court.”
“Such ad-hoc judges can only be appointed if three years have not expired since their retirement. Luckily, we have several very experienced judges with excellent reputations who may be appointed,” it stated.
Responses of other nominated judges
Sources have revealed that two retired justices, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, have agreed to their appointments. Both judges have expressed their acceptance of the ad-hoc positions as nominated by CJP, according to sources.
Meanwhile, Justice (Retired) Maqbool Baqar has not yet responded to the Supreme Court Registrar regarding his nomination.
