PESHAWAR: Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim took oath as chief justice of Peshawar High Court here on Saturday.

Governor Haji Ghulam Ali administered oath to Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim at a ceremony held at Governor’s House. Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur was also present on the occasion.

The ceremony was attended by judges of superior courts including Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Musarrat Hilali of Supreme Court, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb, Justice Tariq Mahmood Jehangiri, Justice Sardar Ijaz Ishaq Khan and Justice Arbab Mohammad Tahir of Islamabad High Court, judges of PHC, retired chief justices Mian Fasihul Mulk and Mohammad Ibrahim Khan, KP Chief Secretary Nadeem Asalm Chaudhry, Inspector General of Police Akhter Hayat Khan, government functionaries and lawyers.

Born in Peshawar on December 2, 1969, Justice Ibrahim has taken oath as acting chief justice on April 15. On the recommendation of Judicial Commission of Pakistan, President appointed him as regular chief justice through a notification on April 18.

Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim was elevated to the bench as additional judge on August 11, 2016, and was confirmed as a judge of the high court on June 1, 2018.

Unless elevated to Supreme Court, his retirement in the high court is due on December 1, 2031. Well-versed in criminal law, the new chief justice was one of the most in-demand lawyers before his elevation to the bench.

Justice Ibrahim had done his LLB from Khyber Law College, University of Peshawar, in 1992. He was enrolled as an advocate of lower courts on May 18, 1993.

He was enrolled as an advocate of high court on March 11, 1995, and subsequently that of Supreme Court on September 26, 2008.

Justice Ibrahim remained special prosecutor of National Accountability Bureau from 2001 to 2002, an assistant advocate general from 1999 to 2000 and additional advocate general from 2008 to 2010.

Before his elevation, he remained an active member of the bar and was elected president of Peshawar High Court Bar Association in 2013, general secretary in 2007 and joint secretary in 1998.

Justice Ibrahim enjoys good reputation among legal circles. He was part of benches, which delivered some important judgments during the last one year.

He was heading the bench, which suspended detention orders of a large number of leaders and workers of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf issued by respective deputy commissioners under Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance.

Justice Ibrahim was also member of the bench, which declared as illegal the practice of law-enforcement agencies to repeatedly arrest an accused in multiple cases and ruled that a person once arrested was deemed to be held in all the cases already registered against him.

Moreover, he was heading a five-member larger bench, which upheld the judgment of Election Commission of Pakistan of not allocating seats reserved for women and non-Muslims to Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) in National and provincial assemblies.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2024