Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Yahya Afridi is poised to take charge of the office as he has been nominated by a Special Parliamentary Committee (SPC). He is expected to be administered the oath on Saturday, October 26, as incumbent CJ-PP CJP Qazi Faez Isa is to retire on October 25.
The new 26th Amendment has now decreed that the chief of the high court should be selected through nomination by the SPC of the Supreme Court from a list prepared by the three most senior Supreme Court judges. Earlier, the post was reserved for the most senior judge who was directly appointed by the president. Justice Afridi stands third in the line of seniority and comes after Justice Munib Akhtar who, too, had been under consideration for the same slot.
President Asif Ali Zardari officially appointed Justice Afridi as CJP, effective from October 26 to the office for a term of three years. Confirming the appointment and oath-taking ceremony through a notification issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice, it was announced that the president had approved this appointment.
Afridi was born on 23 January 1965. He would be the 30th Chief Justice of Pakistan. Previously, he had been the youngest Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court before his elevation to the Supreme Court in June 2018.
Highly publicized, this nomination process is being lauded for its transparency and democratic law. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar called this appointment a big deal both for the judiciary and the nation. Different bar councils, including the Sindh Bar Council and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council, have come forth in full support of Justice Afridi: his character, legal acumen, and non-political stance.
The decision to nominate Justice Afridi came in a night meeting of the SPC with eight of the nine members present in favour of the nomination. Although the PTI and the Sunni Ittehad Council did not attend, both participating parties reflect a commitment to the integrity of the process.
The appointment of Justice Afridi will do considerable good for the judiciary of Pakistan because he is going to enforce the rule of law and fairness in the court.
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