ISLAMABAD (The Thursday Times) — Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi plans to bring three high court judges into the Supreme Court on a temporary basis to help clear its backlog of cases, according to reports citing sources in the court.
The judges proposed are Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan and Justice Syed Shahbaz Rizvi of the Lahore High Court, and Justice Ijaz Anwar of the Peshawar High Court, the reports said. One report described the posts as acting judgeships of the Supreme Court; another called them ad hoc appointments and named only the two Lahore High Court judges.
The Judicial Commission, which the chief justice chairs, is expected to meet later this month to consider the proposals, one report said. The Supreme Court has made no official announcement.
Vacancies and a backlog
The Supreme Court has a sanctioned strength of 34 judges, and 16 of those posts are vacant after the retirement of Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, according to one of the reports. Another said the aim was to speed up hearings in criminal cases pending before the court.
The Constitution allows high court judges to sit in the Supreme Court temporarily when posts are vacant or too few judges are available to hear cases.
Chief Justice Afridi recently hosted a dinner for judges of the Peshawar High Court and of the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench, with Justice Rizvi, who heads the Lahore High Court’s Multan bench, also invited, one report said.
The court this week launched an online portal for digitally verified copies of its decisions and orders. A five-member bench also ruled this week that inheritance rights do not lapse with time.
