ISLAMABAD – Justice (Retired) Mushir Alam has declined the appointment as an ad-hoc judge in the Supreme Court.
In a letter to the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), the former SC judge wrote, “God has honored me beyond my position… I am thankful to the Judicial Commission for the honor of being reappointed as an ad-hoc judge.”
Justice Alam cited disappointment with the social media campaign that emerged following his nomination as a significant reason for his decision. “The campaign on social media after the nomination of ad-hoc judges has been deeply discouraging,” the letter read.
“In the current circumstances, I regret that I am unable to serve as an ad-hoc judge,” he conveyed.
Yesterday, Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa proposed four retired judges for the appointment as ad hoc judges for three years in the apex court. The nominees included Mushir Alam, Mazhar Alam Miankhel, Maqbool Baqar, and Sardar Tariq Masood.
In this regard, the chief justice summoned the JCP meeting on July 19 to consider the nominees.
“Therefore, because of the huge number of pending cases and the ever-increasing trend of the institution of cases in the Supreme Court, an effective way to ensure that more cases are decided than instituted and to reduce, and hopefully eliminate, the cases which are pending adjudication for several years, it would be appropriate to appoint experienced judges as ad hoc Judges of the Supreme Court.”
“Such ad hoc judges can only be appointed if three years have not expired since their retirement. Luckily, we have a number of very experienced Judges enjoying excellent reputations who may be appointed,” it stated.
