Retired Justice Maqbool Baqar appointed as Sindh interim chief minister
Justice Maqbool Baqar, a retired judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, has been appointed as the 8th interim chief minister of Sindh after provincial governor Kamran Tessori signed a summary to this effect on Tuesday.
In a social media post of Tuesday, Governor Tessori shared a picture of the summary sent to him by the outgoing chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, approving the latter’s advice.
The summary stated that after thorough consultations between the outgoing chief minister and the outgoing Leader of the Opposition in the provincial assembly, Rana Ansar, the two sides had agreed to pick the name of Maqbool Baqar for the role of the caretaker chief minister.
The summary requested that a notification for the role be approved under Article 224(1a) (time of election and by-election) of the Constitution. “I have approved for justice (retired) Maqbool Baqir to be made Sindh province’s caretaker chief minister under Article 224 (1a) of the Constitution,” posted Governor Tessori on the social media.
Earlier, the name of Justice Maqbool Baqar was nominated as the eighth caretaker chief minister of Sindh after thorough deliberations between the outgoing Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and opposition leader in the now-dissolved provincial assembly Rana Ansar.
Justice Maqbool Baqar is a retired judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. He was born on April 5, 1957, in Karachi, Pakistan. He received his LL.B. degree from the University of Karachi in 1979.
PPP leader Murtaza Wahab announced on the social media platform X that the two sides have agreed to the name of retired Justice Baqar.
“This is to inform that the consultative process between Sindh CM and the opposition leader under Article 224(1A) took place on 12th,13th and 14th of August.”
“Both the leaders have agreed to propose the name of Justice Maqbool Baqar sahib as the caretaker chief minister,” Wahab posted on X.
Justice Baqar started his professional career as an advocate in the Sindh High Court in 1980. He served as a judge of the Sindh High Court from 2002 to 2015.
While he was serving at the SHC, Justice Baqar’s judgments in terrorism cases irked terrorist outfits, after which he was targeted in a bomb attack on June 26, 2013, in Karachi. He, along with personnel of law enforcement agencies, suffered injuries in the attack, but he returned to work after months of rehabilitative surgery.
One of his notable judgments came in the case of the Baldia factory fire, which resulted in the largest compensation to the victims of the arson incident.
In 2015, he was elevated to the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Justice Baqar has written a number of important judgments, including the judgment in the case of Asif Zardari vs National Accountability Bureau, which held that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had exceeded its powers in the investigation of former President Asif Zardari.
Justice Baqar also wrote the dissenting note in the case of Justice Qazi Faez Isa vs Federation of Pakistan, which held that the presidential reference against Justice Isa was politically motivated. Justice Baqar retired from the Supreme Court on April 4, 2022. He is currently a visiting professor at the University of Karachi. – compiled from news agencies
