The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) approved the appointment of two ad-hoc judges on Friday to the Supreme Court for a period of one year, Geo News has reported.

Justice (retd) Tariq Masood and Justice (retd) Mazhar Alam Miankhel, both retired justices of the apex court, were selected after the JCP meeting headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa held on Friday to discuss the appointment of retired judges to the apex court in a bid to reduce pendency of the cases.

Justice (retd) Mushir Alam, Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar and Justice (retd) Miankhel had declined offers to be appointed ad-hoc judges.

Sources have told Geo that Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar and Justice Yahya Afridi opposed the appointment of Justice (retd) Miankhel as the former judge had already declined the offer.

However, his appointment was approved by a 6:3 majority and now it is up to the former judge that he accepts the offer or maintains previous his stance, they added.

Meanwhile, Justice (retd) Masood’s appointment was approved by 8:1 majority, with Justice Akhtar in opposition.