ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court is considering the appointment of retired judges to decide over 54,000 pending cases.

The Judicial Comm­ission of Pakistan (JCP) — which appoints judges to superior courts — will meet on Friday to deliberate on the appointment of four retired judges as ad hoc members of the court.

Headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa, the JCP will consider the names of retired justices Mushir Alam, Maqbool Baqar, Mazhar Alam Mian­khel and Sardar Tariq Masood for the appointment.

Justice Alam retired as the apex court judge in August 2021, Justice Baqar in April 2022, Justice Miankhel in July 2022 and Justice Masood in March 2024. They will be appointed as ad hoc judges of the Supreme Court for three years and will serve as judges of the top court in addition to the 17 justices who are currently serving as permanent judges.

The sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court is also 17.

The official note for the meeting forwarded by the Supreme Court registrar stated that despite best efforts, the cases continue to accumulate.

The huge number of pending cases and continuous new cases have forced the court to think of an effective way to ensure that more cases are decided than instituted to reduce pending adjudications.

The CJP, in his note, stated that it would be appropriate to appoint experienced judges as ad hoc members of the court.He added that such ad hoc judges can only be appointed if three years have not expired since their retirement.

In its bi-annual report released earlier this year, the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan stated that during the second half of 2023, the overall pendency of cases in all courts of the country increased by 3.9pc, reaching a staggering 2.26 million cases.

It said 82pc of pending cases (1.86 million) are at the district judiciary level, while the remaining 18pc (0.39 million cases) are at the upper tier — the Supreme Court, Federal Shariat Court, and High Courts.

According to the report, 2.38 million new cases were filed during the period, while the courts managed to resolve 2.30 million cases.

Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2024