ISLAMABAD: Justice Yahya Afridi was sworn in as the 30th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan during a ceremony at the President’s House in Islamabad, where President Asif Ali Zardari administered the oath, marking a significant moment in Pakistan’s judicial history.
As per report, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir, and other Supreme Court judges also participated in the swearing-in ceremony.
After taking the oath, Justice Yahya Afridi assumed his duties as Chief Justice for three years.
As a result of the recent constitutional amendment, the Special Parliamentary Committee responsible for the appointment of the Chief Justice of Pakistan nominated Justice Yahya Afridi, the third most senior judge in the Supreme Court, on October 22.
This nomination was confirmed by President Asif Ali Zardari on October 23.
According to the statement issued by the Presidency, President Asif Ali Zardari appointed Justice Yahya Afridi under Articles 175 A (3), 177, and 179 of the Constitution.
After approval from the President, the Ministry of Law issued a notification for the appointment of the Chief Justice on the same day.
It should be noted that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Yahya Afridi, has been appointed for three years, according to which Yahya Afridi will retire on 25 October 2027.
Who is Chief Justice Yahya Afridi?
Yahya Afridi was born on January 23, 1965, in the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He studied at Aitchison and obtained an LL.M. from Cambridge University on a Commonwealth scholarship.
According to the Supreme Court’s official website, he graduated from Government College, Lahore, while also holding an MA in Economics from Punjab University and started practicing law in 1990.
Justice Yahya Afridi started practicing as a High Court advocate in 1990.
He was also appointed as the Assistant Advocate General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and in 2004, he started appearing as a lawyer in the Supreme Court.
On March 15, 2010, he was appointed as a judge of the Peshawar High Court. He was the first judge from FATA to be appointed as the Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court on December 30, 2016. On June 28, 2018, he was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court.
He ruled against the eight-judge majority judgment in the reserved seats case and issued his dissenting note.
Justice Yahya Afridi was also part of the nine-member larger bench of the Supreme Court on the presidential reference against the execution of former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
