Justice Retired Maqbool Baqar turned down a proposal to join the Supreme Court as an ad hoc judge on Thursday, making history as the second judge to turn down an appointment after criticism.
Retired Supreme Court judge Mushir Alam had declined the invitation to serve as an ad hoc judge for a three-year term just days before to his declaration.
The appointment of four retired judges of the highest court is the topic of Friday’s meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), which is presided over by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa.
The main opposition party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has called the move “dishonesty,” despite the government’s firm belief that more judges are required to hear cases that are waiting.
Justice (retired) Baqar stated in an interview with Geo News that he was choosing not to serve as an ad hoc judge for “personal reasons”.
He did, however, note that the complaint is “baseless” and that the nomination of ad hoc justices to the supreme court is in compliance with the law.
Ad hoc judge appointments are “crucial” given the backlog of cases, said to Baqar, the temporary chief minister of Sindh and supporter of CJP Isa’s decision.
The incident follows PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub’s statement that appointing three or four judges won’t solve the problem of thousands of pending cases during an interview with media in Islamabad.
Appointing ‘like-minded’ judges to the Supreme Court is the driving force behind this action. The idea is rejected by political workers and the legal community, according to Ayub, the National Assembly’s Leader of the Opposition.
In addition, Ayub asked that PTI-related matters not be heard by the ad hoc judges after they were constituted.
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar, for his part, called the action “dishonesty” and stated that the JCP suddenly intended to select four ad hoc judges while on vacation.
“It is despicable to appoint these judges for a three-year term. We are bringing this issue up before the Supreme Judicial Council because we believe that ad hoc judges would be detrimental to an independent court. Judges shouldn’t stir up controversy on this matter.”
Appointments to the Supreme Court on an ad hoc basis are appropriate, according to Law Minister Azam Azam Nazeer Tarar.
