Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Mian Fasihul Mulk will retire on Monday (today) and the senior puisne judge Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel will take oath as chief justice the next day. The federal government has already issued notification in this regard. Chief Justice Fasihul Mulk has served on this post for a short stint of over two months. He had taken oath as chief justice on Jan 31.

The chief justice-designate, Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel, hailing from Dera Ismail Khan, has to meet different challenges during his coming stint. One benefit to Justice Miankhel is that unlike his predecessor he has several years left to serve in the superior judiciary.

Born on July 14, 1957 his retirement as a judge of the high court is due on July 13, 2019 and if elevated to the Supreme Court he will retire in July 2022. Due to the same reasons he is in a better position to make vital decisions concerning functioning of the high court.

Justice Miankhel has twice served as member of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council and was elevated to the bench as an additional judge on Sept 7, 2009. Subsequently, he was confirmed as a judge of the high court on Sept 5, 2011.

An immediate challenge to the new CJ will be filling the vacancies of judges in the high court. Following retirement of Chief Justice Fasihul Mulk the high court will be left with 15 judges against its sanctioned strength of 20.

As the chief justice of a high court is also member of the Judicial Commission for Appointment of Judges, when the commission recommends names for appointment in that particular high court his role will be important.

The issue of “enforced disappearances” is also a gigantic task to accomplish by the high court. Presently, around 500 habeas corpus petitions are pending before the high court. In most of these cases the security forces, law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies have been charged with keeping respective “missing persons” in illegal detentions.

Looking at the attitude of intelligence agencies, which are least cooperative towards the high court in these cases, this issue is apparently a tough challenge for Justice Miankhel.

“Justice Miankhel has also served as a member of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council and as a lawyer and subsequently as a judge of the high court he is considered a thorough gentleman, honest and polite person,” said a member of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council, Noor Alam Khan. He said that after taking oath as the chief justice he had to take several steps on administrative as well as judicial level.

Mr Khan said that as a member of the Judicial Commission on appointment of judges, Justice Miankhel has to play his active role so as to appoint competent and honest judges against the vacancies in the PHC. Moreover, he said that the new chief justice had also to address the issue of backlog of cases in the high court and subordinate judiciary on emergency basis.

“Some controversial laws are in the filed, including the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance and the Action (in Aid of Civil Power) Regulation for Fata and Pata and cases of the misuse of these laws will be coming to the high court. Time will prove how much pressure the new chief justice could sustain in these cases when intelligence agencies and security forces are involved in it,” said Mr Khan.

A former chief justice of the high court Dost Mohammad Khan, who is now a judge of the Supreme Court, had taken interest in the establishment of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Judicial Academy and upgraded the human rights cell at the high court to the directorate level.

The human rights directorate has turned into an effective body for aggrieved persons as people have now been filing applications without hiring any lawyer. Similarly, the judicial academy has also been playing an important role in imparting training to judges of the subordinate judiciary as well as other officials attached with criminal justice system, including prosecutors, and officials of police and probation and prison departments.

The new chief justice has also to look into the functioning of these two bodies and make their performance more effective.

Legal experts believe that Justice Miankhel has also to make postings and transfers of judges on merit, avoiding favouritism as well as victimisation of judges.

Another challenge to the new CJ will be how he will maintain the confidence of his colleague judges in him and how the administrative committee, comprising senior judges, will function. In past, Moreover, he has also to keep an eye on the issue of corruption in the subordinate judiciary.