KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday dismissed a petition filed against the appointment of retired Justice Maqbool Baqar as the caretaker chief minister (CM) of Sindh.

A two-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M. Shaikh and Justice Yousuf Ali Sayeed dismissed the petition for being misconceived.

Petitioner Mohammad Ibrahim Abro advocate contended that Justice Baqar was retired as a permanent judge of the Supreme Court on April 4, thus he could not hold any office of profit etc., within the period of two years from his retirement, as described in the constitution.

Citing the cabinet secretary, Sindh governor, provincial chief secretary, principal secretary to the CM and law department secretary as respondents, the petitioner also asserted that Article 207 (judge not to hold office of profit, etc.) of the constitution barred Justice Baqar from taking over as the caretaker chief minister till the completion of two years since his retirement. Justice Baqar was sworn in on Aug 17 as caretaker CM.

The bench in its order said that having considered the matter, it was manifested that the petitioner had lost sight of Article 260 which defined the expression “Service of Pakistan”.

“From a plain reading of the definition, it is apparent that the post of the CM is specifically excluded from the ambit of the term, and the case of the petitioner is misconceived. That being so, while granting the application for urgency, we hereby dismiss the petition in limine, along with the other miscellaneous applications,” it added.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2023