ISLAMABAD: Justice Yahya Afridi was sworn in as Pakistan’s 30th chief justice on Saturday, succeeding Justice Qazi Faez Isa as the country’s top judge.
President Asif Ali Zardari administered oath to the newly-appointed top judge in a prestigious ceremony at the Aiwan-e-Sadr. The new CJP will serve the post for a fixed three-year term.
Justice Afridi has succeeded former CJP Isa, who retired and relinquished charge as the top judge yesterday (October 25).
The top judge is the first to be appointed following new rules for selecting a chief justice, introduced through the 26th Constitutional Amendment passed by the government last week.
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The oath-taking ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and heads of the tri-services, including Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir.
Moreover, Supreme Court judges, including Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Aisha Malik, former CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, Governor Sardar Saleem Haider, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, alongside parliamentarians were also in attendance.
The committee, formed under Section 2(1) of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023, which is responsible for fixing cases, has been reconstituted. Justice Afridi is now the head, while its members include Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Munib Akhtar.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Judicial Council has also been reconstituted following the appointment of the new chief justice.
The top judge has also assumed the role of chairman of the council, with Justices Shah and Akhtar as members of the body, along with the two most senior CJs from the high courts.
Overview of Justice Yahya’s career
Justice Afridi was born in Dera Ismail Khan on January 23, 1965. He belongs to the Adam Khel section of the Afridi tribe located in the Kohat Frontier Region and is a resident of Village Babari Banda, District Kohat. He belongs to a family steeped in a tradition of public service.
He received his early education at Aitchison College, Lahore. He went on to earn his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics from Government College Lahore and later obtained his Masters of Arts degree in Economics from Punjab University, Lahore.
After being awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship, Justice Afridi completed his LLM from Jesus College at the University of Cambridge. He was subsequently selected for a scholarship program for Young Commonwealth Lawyers at the Institute of Legal Studies in London.
He started his private practice in Peshawar and lectured at Khyber Law College, University of Peshawar where he taught International Law, Labour Law and Administrative Law.
He was enrolled as an advocate of the High Court in 1990 and as an advocate of the Supreme Court in 2004. He served as an Assistant Advocate General for the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and as a Federal Counsel for the Government of Pakistan while in practice.
Afridi was elevated to the Bench of the Peshawar High Court as Additional Judge in 2010 and was confirmed as a Judge of the Peshawar High Court on 15th March 2012.
Justice Afridi became the first judge from the Federally Administered Tribal Area to assume the office of the Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court when he took oath on 30th December 2016. He served in that office until his elevation as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 28th June 2018.
