ISLAMABAD: Justice (retd) Tariq Masood and Justice (retd) Mazhar Alam Miankhel were on Monday sworn in as ad hoc judges of the Supreme Court by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa for a period of one year.
The swearing-in ceremony attended by other SC judges and Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan comes after President Asif Ali Zardari approved their appointment under Article 182 of the Constitution at the Supreme Court on Friday.
The President’s nod followed the approval of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) headed by CJP Isa 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 – retired Justice Maqbool Ahmed Malik, AG Awan, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and Pakistan Bar Council representative Akhtar Hussain.
Justice (retired) Miankhel’s initially declined to become an ad hoc judge of the apex court citing “personal reasons”, becoming the third judge to reject the proposal.
Before him, Justice (retd) Mushir Alam and Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar also rejected the offer to become an ad hoc judge of the high court.
It should be noted that a retired judge can be appointed as an ad hoc judge for a period of three years or less.
The appointment of ad hoc judges, according to the Supreme Court itself, is intended to ensure that more cases are decided than initiated and to reduce their workload.
According to statistics provided in the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan’s half-yearly report, the backlog of cases in courts rose to 2.26 million during the second half of 2023, increasing the total pending case 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 higher level, including SC, Federal Shariat Court and High Courts.
According to the report, 2.38 million new cases were filed during the period, with courts able to decide 2.30 million cases.
