Justice (retd) Tariq Masood and Justice (retd) Mazhar Alam Miankhel on Monday were sworn in as Supreme Court’s ad hoc judges by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa for a period of one year.
The oath-taking ceremony, attended by other SC judges and Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan, comes after President Asif Ali Zardari approved their appointments under Article 182 of the Constitution in the apex court on Friday.
The president’s nod followed CJP Isa-led Judicial Commission of Pakistan’s (JCP) approval in a meeting attended by eight members including four senior SC judges – Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Yahya Afridi – a retired judge Justice Maqbool Ahmed Malik, AG Awan, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and Pakistan Bar Council representative Akhtar Hussain.
Justice (retd) had initially Miankhel’s refused to become an ad hoc judge of the apex court, 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 turned down the offer to become ad hoc judge of the apex court.
It is to be noted that a retired judge can be appointed ad hoc judge for a period of of three years or less.
Appointment of ad hoc judges, as per the top court itself, is aimed at ensuring more cases are decided than instituted and to reduce the pendency of the cases.
As per the statistics reflected in the bi-annual report of the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan, the number of pending cases in the courts surged to 2.26 million during the second half of the year 2023, increasing the overall pendency of cases by 3.9%.
The report revealed that 82% of the pending cases (1.86 million) were at the district judiciary level and the remaining 18% (0.39 million cases) were at the upper tier, including the SC, Federal Shariat Court, and high courts. As per the report, 2.38 million new cases were filed during the period, while the courts managed to decide 2.30 million cases.