KARACHI: Retired Justice Maqbool Baqar, a former judge of the Supreme Court, became the interim Sindh chief minister on Tuesday after Governor Kamran Tessori signed a summary for his appointment.

In a social media post on X (previously Twitter) in the early hours of Tuesday, Tessori shared a picture of the summary sent to him by former Sindh chief minister Murad Ali Shah, which he had signed, thereby approving the latter’s advice.

The summary stated that after a “series of meetings” were held between Shah and the outgoing Leader of the Opposition in the now-dissolved Sindh Assembly, Rana Ansar, it had been agreed that Baqar would be designated the role of the caretaker chief minister.

It requested that Baqar’s notification for the role be approved under Article 224(1a) (time of election and by-election) of the Constitution.

Sharing the signed summary, Tessori stated: “I have signed the summary for appointing justice (retired) Maqbool Baqir as the caretaker chief minister. I have approved for justice (retired) Maqbool Baqir to be made Sindh province’s caretaker chief minister under Article 224 (1a) of the Constitution.”

MQM-P had confirmed a consensus was reached on the name of Baqar, whose name was primarily proposed by the treasury, and it was agreed upon by the opposition after a lengthy discussion within the party and with its allies.

Ansar had told reporters outside the CM House that it was a “win-win situation” for the treasury and the opposition as Justice Baqar’s name remained “undisputed” on both sides.

“And being the leader of the opposition, we also had to take our ally into confidence before reaching any decision. So the GDA’s input was also taken under consideration and the decision was made with consensus,” she added.

Before the formal announcement from any side, Justice Baqar, who retired from the Supreme Court last year, appeared on a private TV channel to confirm his appointment.

“I was first contacted from the treasury side and later the opposition also talked to me on this matter,” he said in response to a question.

The Sindh Assembly had been dissolved on August 11 after Tessori signed the summary forwarded to him by Shah for its dissolution, bringing an end to the PPP government in the province.

A law graduate from the University of Karachi, Justice Baqar retired from the Supreme Court last year and has served as the chief justice of the Sindh High Court as well.

According to the SHC’s website, he was enrolled there as an advocate in May 1981, after which he was elevated to the role of an additional judge on Aug 26, 2002.

Exactly a year later, Justice Baqar was confirmed as an SHC judge. On Sept 26, 2013, he was appointed as the chief justice before being elevated to the role of a Supreme Court justice on Feb 17, 2015.

Justice Baqar was also the target of a deadly bomb attack in June 2013, which killed nine people and injured 15 others, including Baqar, who was serving as a senior SHC judge at the time.

The attack had happened as Justice Maqbool Baqir drove past with his security detail on Burns Road. Police had said he was rushed to a nearby hospital with critical injuries and that his driver was killed in the attack.