ISLAMABAD, Oct 26 (NNI): Justice Yahya Afridi took oath as the 30th Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) for a three-year period on Saturday.
He was administered the oath of office by President Asif Zardari during a ceremony at Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad.
The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, Services Chiefs, Speaker of the National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Chairman Senate Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, Governors, Chief Ministers, Ministers, judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, high courts, former chief justices, law officers, office bearers of the lawyers’ bodies, lawyers, and media persons.
Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur also attended the oath taking of new Chief Justice Afridi.
The ceremony began with the recitation of the Holy Quran, following which the notification for Justice Afridi’s appointment was read out.
Justice Yahya Afridi will serve in the top judicial office for the next three years following the recently passed 26th constitutional amendment from parliament.
Justice Yahya Afridi was nominated by a special parliamentary committee as the next CJP among the three senior most judges of the Supreme Court under the newly adopted 26th Amendment of the Constitution, and a summary in this regard was afterwards forwarded by the prime minister to the president, who accorded approval to the appointment of Justice Afridi as the 30th CJP.
“I, Justice Yahya Afridi, do solemnly swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance to Pakistan, that I, as chief justice of Pakistan, I will discharge my duties, and perform my functions, honestly to the best of my ability and faithfully in accordance with the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the law,” Chief Justice Afridi said as he took the oath at the televised ceremony.
“I will not allow my personal interest to influence my official conduct or my official decisions, that I will preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and that, in all circumstances, I will do right to all manner of people, according to law, without fear or favor, affection or ill-will. May Allah Almighty help and guide me, Ameen.”
Chief Justice Afridi replaces Qazi Faez Isa who retired on Friday after serving on the post for more than a year.
Mr Justice Yahya Afridi was born in Dera Ismail Khan on 23rd January 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.
His Lordship 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 LL.M. 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.
His Lordship interned at Fox & Gibbons, Solicitors, in London, before returning to Pakistan where he joined Orr, Dignam & Co. in Karachi as an Associate. Yahya Afridi went on to start his private practice in Peshawar and lectured at Khyber Law College, University of Peshawar where he taught International Law, Labour Law and Administrative Law.
Justice Yahya Afridi 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.
He 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 Yahya Afridi became the first judge from the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) 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. NNI
