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

ISLAMABAD: Justice Yayha Afridi. who was nominated by a Special Parliamentary Committee (SPC), was sworn in as the 30th chief justice of Pakistan on Saturday.

Justice Yahya Afridi was administered the oath of office by President Arif Alvi during a ceremony at Aiwan-i-Sadr in Islamabad.

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and parliamentarians were also in attendance, along with all judges of the apex court. The ceremony was also attended by all the Chief Ministers and Governors including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa CM Ali Amin Gandapur.

The ceremony began with the recitation of the Holy Quran, following which the notification for Justice Afridi’s appointment was read out.

The president then administered the oath to Justice Yahya Afridi.

Who is Yahya Afridi, the new Chief Justice?

Following the passage of the 26th Amendment, the top judge was to now be “appointed on the recommendation of the Special Parliamentary Committee from amongst the three most senior” SC judges.

Previously, the president used to appoint the “most senior judge of the Supreme Court” as the CJP, according to which senior puisne judge Mansoor Ali Shah was earlier set to assume the position.

Justice Afridi is the third judge on the SC seniority list (excluding the incumbent CJP), with Justice Munib Akhtar being the second most senior judge among those considered by the SPC.

President Asif Ali Zardari appointed Justice Afridi as the CJP under clause 3 of Article 175A read with Articles 177 and 179 of the Constitution, according to a notification issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice.