PTI to approach SJC against move to appoint retired judges in top court

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has unveiled its strategy to stop the appointment of ad hoc judges in the Supreme Court and termed it a “hazardous” move for the independence of judiciary.

The Imran Khan-founded party announced moving the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) to share its reservations on ad hoc judges’ appointments in the top court.

Earlier this week, Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) Chairman and Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa reportedly proposed appointing retired judges in the Supreme Court to reduce the pendency of the cases in the top court.

“Ad hoc judges are hazardous for independent judiciary,” PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan told the journalists in Islamabad on Thursday, dubbing the move as malafide.

The lawyer-cum-politician said that the judges should not make the matter controversial.

PTI Secretary-General Omar Ayub Khan said that the 56,000 cases would not be wrapped up by appointing three to four ad hoc judges. He alleged that it was an attempt to create a lobby of like-minded judges.

Ayub said that legal fraternity and political workers rejected the decision. He also appealed to CJP Isa that their cases should not be referred to ad hoc judges.

The PTI’s reaction came as the JCP headed by CJP Isa is scheduled to meet on Friday (tomorrow) to consider the appointment of four retired apex court judges.

"In view of the huge number of pending cases and the ever-increasing trend of institution of cases in the SC, an effective way to ensure that more cases are decided than instituted and to reduce, and hopefully eliminate the cases which arc pending adjudication for several years, it would be appropriate to appoint experienced Judges as ad hoc Judges of the SC," read a notification on the JCP huddle.

Four judges had been nominated by CJP Isa, including Justice (retd) Mushir Alam and Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqir, Justice (retd) Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice (retd) Sardar Tariq Masood.

However, Justice (retired) Baqar declined an offer to serve as an ad hoc judge of the Supreme Court followed by Justice (retd) Alam’s refusal to work as an ad hoc judge for a three-year term.

Pendency of cases surges by 3.9% to 2.6m

The Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan (LJCP), in its bi-annual report of judicial statistics, said the number of pending cases in the courts surged to 2.26 million during the second half of the year 2023, increasing the overall pendency 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 upper tier, including the SC, Federal Shariat Court, and high courts.

As per the report, 2.38 million new cases were filed during the period, while the courts managed to decide 2.30 million cases.

Despite a significant settlement of cases, the pending cases increased due to the continual filing of new ones, the statement said.

"Civil cases constitute 81% of the cases pending in the high courts, while criminal cases account for 19%,” the report added.