ISLAMABAD: Veteran Supreme Court judge Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday will get a rare second extension as ad hoc judge following a proposal adopted at a full court meeting here on Monday.According to a legal source, the proposal also sought the appointment of Justice Rahmat Hussain Jafferi as an ad hoc judge, who had reached superannuation on Nov 22 last year.

Justice Ramday’s one-year extension expires on Feb 16. But it is not yet clear whether the extension will be for six months, a year or more than a year.

A late-night announcement by the Supreme Court said that Chief Justice Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, who presided over the full court meeting, had proposed to request the two judges to rejoin the bench as ad hoc judges, which was unanimously agreed. Both the judges, it said, had accepted the proposal in “wider institutional interest”.

At the outset, the meeting welcomed newly-elevated judges — Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Amir Hani Muslim — who were sworn in as SC judges in the morning. With their elevation, the Supreme Court’s sanctioned strength of 17 has been completed.

The source said that after the 19th Amendment the chief justice could seek the appointment of a judge of the same court as an ad hoc judge in consultation with the Judicial Commission (JC) constituted under the 18th Amendment. However, the condition of an approval by the eight-member Parliamentary Committee required under the 18th Amendment is not necessary in this case.

The Article 182 which was amended in the 19th Amendment says: “If at any time it is not possible for want of quorum of judges of the Supreme Court to hold or continue any sitting of the court or for any other reason it is necessary to increase temporarily the number of judges in the Supreme Court, the chief justice in consultation with the JC may in writing with the approval of the president, request any person who has held the office of a judge of that court and since whose ceasing to hold that office three years have not elapsed, to attend sitting of the Supreme Court as ad hoc judge for such period as may be necessary and while so attending the ad hoc judge shall have the same power of jurisdiction as a judge of the Supreme Court.”

Reacting to the news, Supreme Court Bar Association President Asma Jehangir said: “I am quite surprised that Justice Ramday is being given another extension.”

It was not even appropriate for a judge to attend a meeting where a proposal for extension of his service as ad hoc judge was being made, she told Dawn.

“I had an invitation with me to attend a full court reference in his (Justice Ramday) honour followed by a farewell dinner,” she said, adding that the SCBA had even arranged a lunch in his honour which seemed not necessary now after the announcement.

“We need to firm up a system for getting confirmation of judges in the superior judiciary because ad hoc judges are appointed only in exceptional cases, but here I don’t find any exceptional situation for Justice Ramday’s continuation as ad hoc judge,” Ms Jehangir said.

It would have been more proper if the appointment was made on the suggestions of bar associations than by the Supreme Court itself, she said, adding that such appointments had created controversy in the past.

“It is very surprising if the full court has passed the resolution to grant one more extension to Justice Ramday because the full court reference in his honour is scheduled for Feb 17.

“An invitation for the dinner hosted by the Supreme Court in honour of the judge has already been issued and a lunch to be hosted by Asma Jehangir on Friday has also been finalised,” senior Advocate Tariq Mehmood told Dawn.

Last year when Justice Ramday was recalled by the chief justice to serve on the bench for one more year, he wrote to the latter that he would not draw any salary and it should be deposited directly in the account of Al-Mizan Foundation — the organisation set up for the benefit and welfare of serving and retired employees of the Supreme Court.

DISPOSAL OF CASES: The full court also devised a methodology to speed up disposal of cases. Many ideas were discussed and the meeting decided that the category of cases as formulated in the National Judicial Policy would be followed for fixing cases.

The cases relating to recovery of government revenue and tax, rent, family, stay, women, juvenile and service matters will be given top priority.

Benches will be designated to hear specific categories of cases. Two benches will start working in Lahore next month. Regular benches will also be sent to branch registries on a rotation basis.

The full court noted that due to increased credibility of the judiciary more people were approaching courts for justice.