Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa swore in Justice (retd) Tariq Masood and Justice (retd) Mazhar Alam Miankhel as ad hoc justices of the Supreme Court on Monday for a one-year term.
Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan and other Supreme Court justices were present at the oath-taking ceremony. The appointments were authorized by President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday in accordance with Article 182 of the Constitution in the highest court.
Following the agreement of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) chaired by CJP Isa, the president gave his consent. The meeting was attended by eight participants, four of them were senior SC judges: Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Aminuddin Khan, and retired judge Justice Yahya Afridi.
Azam Nazeer Tarar, the Law Minister, retired judge Justice Maqbool Ahmed Malik, attorney general Awan, and Pakistan Bar Council delegate Akhtar Hussain.
Miankhel, the third judge to decline the idea, first objected to being appointed as an ad hoc judge of the supreme court, claiming “personal reasons.”
Judges (retd) Mushir Alam and Maqbool Baqar had declined the opportunity to serve as ad hoc judges of the supreme court prior to him.
It should be mentioned that a retired judge may be named an ad hoc judge for no more than three years.
According to the supreme court itself, the appointment of ad hoc judges is intended to ensure that more cases are decided than instituted and to decrease the pendency.
