ISLAMABAD – Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) approved appointment of two retired Supreme Court judges, Justice Tariq Masood and Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel, as ad hoc judges for one year.
The development comes after a meeting chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, where commission mulled bringing in former jurists to help address the backlog of cases in the apex court.
Earlier on Friday, Judge Mazhar Alam turned down offer to serve as ad-hoc judge. Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa proposed the appointment of four retired judges, including Alam, Baqar, and Miankhel, to help manage the significant backlog of over 54,000 pending cases in the Supreme Court.
The move has drawn criticism, particularly from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which plans to contest the appointments in the Supreme Judicial Council. PTI’s Barrister Gohar criticized the appointments as being politically motivated and indicated that the matter would be raised with the Supreme Judicial Council.
PTI has also opposed the involvement of any ad-hoc judges in their cases. Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar defended the appointments, highlighting that the Constitution permits the appointment of ad-hoc judges and suggesting that any related legal issues, including those involving Article 6 against PTI leaders, could be addressed in Parliament.
