SC wants two ad-hoc judges on the bench

Ramday to retire on Feb 18, nearly three months after Justice Jafferey’s retirement.

ISLAMABAD: A full court meeting under the chairmanship of Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, passed a resolution on Monday for a one-year extension in term for Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday on an ad-hoc basis whereas the full court also suggested the appointment of Justice (retd) Rahmat Hussain Jafferey as an ad-hoc judge.

Justice Ramday was appointed on February 18, 2010 for a period of one year on an ad-hoc basis and was scheduled to retire on February 17 this year. Similarly, Justice (retd) Jafferey retired as Supreme Court judge on November 22, 2010.

The official statement issued after the full court meeting, which was held to welcome Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Amir Hani Muslim on their elevation to the Supreme Court from the Sindh High Court, did not mention the passing of the resolution.

Later when it was reported on the state media, the PRO office of the apex court issued a revised release.

“It was noted that with the elevation of the two judges  today, the Supreme Court sanctioned strength is complete. However, in view of the pendency of cases and ever-increasing institution of fresh cases, ad-hoc judges as enshrined in the Constitution may be appointed,” it said.

“The chief justice of Pakistan proposed that in order to clear the backlog of the pendency, Justice Khalil-ur-Rehmman Ramday and Justice Rahmat Hussain Jaffery … may be requested to rejoin the bench as ad-hoc judges under Article 182 of the Constitution to work for a period of one and two years, respectively. The full court meeting unanimously agreed to the proposal,” the press release added.

President of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Asma Jahangir, reacted strongly to the development.

While talking to The Express Tribune, Jahangir said, “A majority of the bar is against the appointment of ad-hoc judges. It is also inappropriate for judges to pass resolutions in favour of ad-hoc appointments. The very fact that this has been done on the eve of Justice Ramday’s retirement shows the negative influence he has on the Supreme Court.”

The SCBA president added, “It comes to my notice time and again that by and large, lawyers who appear in the Supreme Court in different cases, were counting the days of Justice Ramday’s retirement.”

She also noted that the appointment of ad-hoc judges obstructed the appointment of permanent judges. “It stalemates the judicial process of fresh appointments,” she further said.

“I have an invitation to speak at the reference for Justice Ramday on Thursday. I am very much looking forward to this. There is a farewell dinner for him on the same day,” she also said.

According to the official press release, the full court meeting was informed that cases pending at the Supreme Court and its four branch registries have multiplied in the last one year.

It was felt that in the past year, many important constitutional and other cases consumed much of the court’s time.  In one instance, the 18th amendment case was heard for about more than five months. Similarly, the NRO review case, the Bank of Punjab case and cases like the Hajj scandal and the Reko Diq were heard by larger benches.

The regular hearing of suo motu cases by various benches also factored in the delay of disposal of other cases. The full court devised a methodology to improve the disposal of cases.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 15^th, 2011.