Seven new Supreme Court judges sworn in

ISLAMABAD: Six permanent judges and one ad-hoc judge have taken the oath today, making it a total of seven being sworn in the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Yahya Afridi.

Justice Aamer Farooq, Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, Justice Shakil Ahmed, Justice Shafi Siddiqui were sworn in. Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Hashim Kakar were all sworn as Supreme Court judges. Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb took the oath as an ad-hoc judge.

The event was the first-ever open-air oath-taking ceremony in the Supreme Court and was held outside to accommodate the large number of attendees.

Notifications issued for Supreme Court judges’ appointments

The Sindh High Court also saw the oath taking ceremony for Justice Junaid Ghaffar who took oath as the Acting Chief Justice of SHC. Sindh governor Kamran Tessori administered the oath at the Governor House in Karachi. This was owing to the transfer of former Chief Justice SHC Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui to Supreme Court.

Born on September 14, 1963, Justice Junaid Ghaffar earned his law degree in 1990, and at present ranks first in the seniority list of Sindh High Court judges.

For Peshawar High Court, Atiq Shah took the oath as Acting Chief Justice, and the Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa administered the oath.

The swearing-in ceremony for Acting Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court (IHC) will also take place later today, and the oath would be administered to Justice Sarfraz Dogar by President Asif Ali Zardari. Justice

His appointment follows Justice Aamir Farooq’s elevation to the Supreme Court. Earlier this month, Justice Sarfraz Dogar was transferred from Lahore High Court to IHC.

Set to take place on Thursday, the swearing in ceremony of newly appointed judges of the Supreme Court was postponed due to the Law Ministry’s notification which was issued in the wee hours of last night, causing the oath ceremony to be delayed as well.