Justice Yahya Afridi sworn in as the 30th Chief Justice of Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Oct 26 (SABAH): Justice Yahya Khan Afridi has sworn in as the 30th Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) on Saturday during an oath-taking ceremony at President House in Islamabad.

He was administered the oath of office by President Asif Ali Zardari and will remain the CJP for three years till Oct 26, 2027.

Justice Afridi was nominated by a Special Parliamentary Committee (SPC), which was formed under the recently legislated 26th Amendment.

CJP Afridi’s predecessor Justice Qazi Faez Isa, who was sworn in on Sept 17, 2023, was officially offered a farewell on Friday during a full court reference where senior lawyers recounted his tenure’s highlights.

Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, Chairman Senate Makhdoom Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz sadiq and the three services chiefs, including Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir, attended Saturday’s oath-taking ceremony, along with other judges of the Supreme Court. Senior puisne judge Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, who would have become the CJP had the 26th Amendment not been in place, was unable to attend Friday’s and Saturday’s events as he was gone for Umrah along with his family.

However, all remaining judges of SC judges were seen present at the oath-taking ceremony, including Justices Munib Akhtar, Aminuddin Khan, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Aysah. A Malik, Athar Minallah, Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Shahid Waheed, Musarrat Hilali, Irfan Saadat Khan, Naeem Akhtar Afghan, Malik Shahzad Ahmed Khan, Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, Shahid Bilal Hassan, Sardar Tariq Masood and Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel.

Former Chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Tasadduq Hussain Jillani, Umar Ata Bandial were also seen sitting along with sitting judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

From the Punjab government, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, Governor Sardar Saleem Haider Khan and Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb were among those attending the event.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, Balochistan CM Mir Sarfraz Ahmed Khan Bugti, and KP CM Sardar Ali Amin Khan Gandapur were also present at the gathering. Governor Gilgit-Baltistan Syed Mehdi Shah was also present during the ceremony.

Among the federal ministers were Information Minister Attaullah Tarar Advocate, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Petroleum Minister Dr. Musadik Masood Malik, Privatisation Minister Abdul Aleem Khan and Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Engineer Amir Muqam.

Justice Yahya 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.