ISLAMABAD: Justice (retired) Maqbool Baqar declined an offer to serve as an ad hoc judge of the Supreme Court on Thursday, becoming the second judge to refuse the appointment amid criticism. Just days earlier, retired Supreme Court judge Mushir Alam had also turned down the same offer for a three-year term.
The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), chaired by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, is set to meet on Friday to discuss the appointment of four retired apex court judges. Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar spoke at a ceremony at the Federal Judicial Academy in Islamabad, expressing his decision against becoming an ad hoc judge due to “personal reasons.” He emphasized that the appointment of ad hoc judges is legal and that the criticism against it is “baseless.” Supporting CJP Isa’s decision, Baqar, who previously served as the caretaker chief minister of Sindh, stated the necessity of ad hoc judges to address the backlog of cases.
The government’s position is that additional judges are needed to clear pending cases, but the main opposition party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has criticized the move as “dishonest.” PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub, speaking to journalists in Islamabad, argued that appointing three or four judges would not solve the issue of thousands of pending cases. He claimed the aim was to appoint “like-minded” judges to the Supreme Court and called for these judges to be barred from hearing PTI-related cases.
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar labeled the move as “dishonest,” noting that the JCP’s sudden plan to appoint four ad hoc judges during vacations seemed malicious. He argued that these appointments could harm judicial independence and indicated the matter would be brought before the Supreme Judicial Council to avoid making the issue controversial.
In contrast, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar supported the appointment of ad hoc judges, stating that it is constitutionally permitted and that the Judicial Commission, not the chief justice, appoints them. He dismissed PTI’s concerns about CJP Isa and stressed the need for these appointments to address the backlog of cases.
Baqar and Alam, along with Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Sardar Tariq Masood, were the judges to be considered in the JCP’s Friday meeting.
