ISLAMABAD - Justice Javed Iqbal, a senior most judge of the Supreme Court, who persistently endeavoured for the recovery of missing persons and with whose efforts many missing persons have been recovered, is retiring on July 31, 2011. A Full Court reference in this regard will be held on July 28 to pay him tribute. Justice Javed along with twelve other judges of the SC had refused to take oath under Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) on November 3, 2007. Like Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and other judges of the Supreme Court, he was also put under house arrest along with his family and reinstated in March 2009. When the presidential reference against Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was filed on March 9, 2007, Justice Iqbal served as acting Chief Justice of Pakistan from 9 March 2007 till 23 March 2007. After his restoration, he heard the missing persons cases with great passion and vigour. Due his personal interest the number of disappeared persons had reduced as he has compelled the law enforcement agencies to trace out the missing persons. He had ordered the Inspector Generals of Police of all the provinces to register the FIR of disappeared persons otherwise the court would take action against them. Justice Javed Iqbal, an outspoken judge, has command over Quran and Sunnah. In many cases he referred the Quranic verses and hadith so eloquently that not only surprised litigants, but also the lawyers. He has a good sense of humor and due to his deferential attitude both the senior and junior lawyers give him great respect.In October 2007, he headed an 11-member bench, which heard a petition filed by a presidential candidate, Justice (retd) Wajihud Din Ahmed challenging the eligibility of Musharraf to contest the elections for the office of the president. He has been part of benches, which passed judgments on important cases, including restoration of the CJP in 2007, National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), the 18th Amendment, Hajj corruption, Chairman NAB appointment case and many others. He also sat in the 13-member bench, which had declared the November 3, 2007 PCO and emergency as unconstitutional on July 31, 2009. On the request of the federal government the Supreme Court on June20 has appointed Justice Javed Iqbal as the head of Abbottabad Commission. The commission has started its investigation. It is relevant to mention that besides Justice Javed Iqbal three other judges of the Supreme Court will also retire this year, including Justice Muhammad Sair Ali on December 11, 2011, Justice Mahmood Akhtar Shahid Siddiqui on October 13, 2011 and ad hoc judge Justice Ghulam Rabbani on October 19, 2011