Daily Times

President Asif Ali Zardari has approved the appointments of Justice (retd) Sardar Tariq Masood and Justice (retd) Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel as ad hoc judges to the Supreme Court for one year.

An official statement issued by the President House on Friday said the approval was given under Article 182 of the Constitution. The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) had last week recommended the appointment of two retired judges to the apex court to reduce the pendency of the cases.

The JCP meeting was held at the SC on June 19 with Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa being the chairman of the Commission in the chair.

The meeting was attended by eight other members of the commission, including four senior SC judges – Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Yahya Afridi – and a retired judge Justice Maqbool Ahmed Malik, Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan, Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar as well as Akhtar Hussain, a representative of Pakistan Bar Council.

It may be noted that the approval of appointment comes despite Justice (retd) Miankhel’s refusal to become an ad hoc judge of the apex court. He had declined the offer citing “personal reasons”, becoming the third judge to turn down the proposal. Before him Justice (retd) Mushir Alam and Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar had also refused appointment as ad hoc judges. In the JCP meeting, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar and Justice Yahya Afridi had opposed the appointment of Justice (retd) Miankhel as he had already declined the offer.

However, his appointment was approved by a 6:3 majority. The former ruling party – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) – had opposed the appointment of retired justices as ad hoc judges, saying the appointment would compromise the independence of the judiciary. It had asked the JCP to turn down the proposal of appointments. The PTI has been raising concerns over the appointment of ad hoc judges, claiming that the move is aimed at targeting the party, while the government has supported the decision, saying it falls under the ambit of law.