- Justices (r) Maqbool Baqar and Mushir Alam have already declined CJP’s offer
- JCP approves appointment of Justice (r) Masood as ad-hoc judge for one year
ISLAMABAD: Former Supreme Court Judge Mazhar Alam Main Khail on Friday followed in his former colleagues – Justice (r) Maqbool Baqar and Justice (r) Mushir Alam and excused himself from taking up the position of ad-hoc judge in the apex court.
Justice (r) Mazhar Alam Main Khail cited personal reasons and dissatisfaction with the subsequent social media campaign.
Earlier this month, Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa proposed four retired judges, including Alam, Baqar, and Mian Khail, for the appointment on ad-hoc basis to address a backlog of over 54,000 cases pending in the SC.
Justice (r) Mushir Alam and Justice (r) Maqbool Baqir have already declined to accept the offer, while Justice (r) Sardar Tariq Masood has expressed willingness to take up the ad-hoc judge position.
The move, however, faced severe criticism from various quarters, including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which has challenged the decision in the Supreme Judicial Council.
Barrister Gohar said that the appointment of ad hoc judges was mala fide. “Four judges are being appointed at the same time during the vacations with a view to bringing in like-minded judges,” Gohar said. “We are sending this issue to the Supreme Judicial Council,” he added.
PTI has accused the appointments of being politically motivated and opposed any ad-hoc judges from hearing their cases.
However, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar defended the appointments, stating that the Constitution permits the appointment of ad-hoc judges and suggested that any legal concerns, such as the invocation of Article 6 against PTI leaders, could be debated in Parliament.
CJP okays name of Justice (r) tariq Masood
Meanwhile, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on Friday approved the appointment of Justice (r) Sardar Tariq Masood along with Justice (r) Mazhar Miankhel as ad-hoc judges to the Supreme Court (SC).
The latter, however, has refused to accept the offer.
The JCP meeting considered the proposals for the appointment of ad hoc judges and approved two names for the role with the majority of votes.
According to sources, Justice Munib Akhtar opposed the appointment of Justice (r) Sardar Tariq Masood as an ad-hoc judge.
However, the JCP approved the name of Justice (r) Masood with a majority of 8-1.
The appointment has been made for a period of one year.
