Yahya Afridi to be sworn in as Chief Justice on October 26

ISLAMABAD: The swearing in ceremony for Yahya Afridi as Chief Justice is set for October 26 at 11 am in the Aiwan-e-Sadr.

President Zardari will administer the oath to Afridi, who was nominated by a parliamentary committee shortly after the passage of the contentious juridical reforms in National Assembly (NA).

Read more: Who is Yahya Afridi, the new Chief Justice?

Yahya Afridi hails from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and belongs to the famous Afridi tribe. He boasts an illustrious career and academic credentials, having studied his early years in Aitchison College before obtaining his first law degree from University of Punjab.

He is also a Cambridge University alumni, having obtained his Masters of Laws (LLM) from Jesus College while on a commonwealth scholarship.

Afridi quickly rose through the ranks in his career, having started as an intern in Orr, Dignam and Co – a law firm – in Karachi before becoming an Advocate of the High Court just within a year.

He then advanced to Assistant Advocate General for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and as Federal Counsel for the government. He later added the title of Advocate of the Supreme Court to his many credentials in 2004.

His judicial journey then became in 2010 when he was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Peshawar High Court. Afridi became a permanent judge in 2012 and was appointed Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court in 2016.

Yahya Afridi then stepped further up his judicial career level when in 2018, he joined the Supreme Court. There, he participated in several high-profile cases, including the case of reserved seats for the Sunni Itehad Council (SIC) and the presidential reference concerning the hanging of former Prime Minister and Zardari’s father in-law, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

The future Chief Justice opted not to join a committee addressing the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Ordinance.

Read more: Newly nominated chief justice Yahya meets CJP Isa, Justice Mansoor

Afridi is certainly a unique choice, especially following the controversial 26th amendment often criticised as undermining judiciary’s independence.

He has consistently advocated for judicial independence. Afridi also served as a petitioner against the emergency declared by General (retd) Pervez Musharraf in 2007.