Justice Yahya Afridi was sworn in as the 30th Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) on Saturday during an oath-taking ceremony at President House in Islamabad.

He was administered the oath of office by President Asif Ali Zardari and will remain the CJP for three years till Oct 26, 2027.

Justice Afridi was nominated by a Special Parliamentary Committee (SPC), which was formed under the recently legislated 26th Amendment.

CJP Afridi’s predecessor Justice Qazi Faez Isa, who was sworn in on Sept 17, 2023, was officially offered a farewell yesterday during a full court reference where senior lawyers recounted his tenure’s highlights.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the three services chiefs, including Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir, attended today’s oath-taking ceremony, along with other judges of the Supreme Court.

Praising the new CJP in a post on X, PM Shehbaz said: “His experience, wisdom and legal knowledge will guide the judiciary towards upholding justice and strengthening the rule of law.

“I am confident that under his leadership, the courts will continue to serve the people of Pakistan with integrity and fairness. My best wishes to him for a successful tenure ahead.”

Senior puisne judge Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, who would have become the CJP had the 26th Amendment not been in place, was unable to attend yesterday’s and today’s events as he was gone for Umrah along with his family.

However, most of the other SC judges were seen present at the oath-taking ceremony, including Justices Munib Akhtar, Ayesha Malik and Athar Minallah who were not present during yesterday’s full court reference.

Other judges attending today’s ceremony included Justices Aminuddin Khan, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Shahid Waheed. Former CJP Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was also seen sitting along with them.

From the Punjab government, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, Governor Sardar Saleem Haider Khan and Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb were among those attending the event.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, Balochistan CM Sarfraz Bugti, and KP CM Ali Amin Gandapur were also present at the gathering.

Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani and National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq attended the ceremony as well.

Among the federal ministers were Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik, and Privatisation Minister Abdul Aleem Khan.

Bench-formation committee reconstituted

Shortly after assuming his office, CJP Afridi reconstituted the Practice and Procedure Committee and re-inducted Justice Akhtar into the body.

The committee will comprise CJP Afridi, Justice Shah and Justice Akhtar.

The SC registrar issued a notification today, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, which stated: “Honourable Chief Justice of Pakistan has been pleased to reconstitute the requisite committee.”

Originally, the committee was supposed to consist of the three senior-most SC judges to deal with cases under Article 184(3) of the Constitution — often referred to as the apex court’s suo motu jurisdiction.

Following an ordinance last month to amend the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023 — a law that aimed to curtail the CJP’s powers — the top judge could now pick any SC judge to be the third member of the body.

Subsequently, Justice Isa had removed Justice Akhtar, the third senior-most judge at the time, from the committee and made Justice Aminuddin Khan a part of it.

At the time, Justice Khan was the fifth most-senior judge, while Justice Afridi was on the fourth rank.

Speaking at the full court reference yesterday, CJP Yahya had stressed that the “rule of law shall rule” and the principles of trichotomy of power shall prevail during the time ahead.

He indicated that the immediate focus would be on districts furthest away, on improving the justice delivery system and facilitating the cases of women, children, and the disabled.

During a hearing earlier this week, Justice Afridi said a separate category would be created for cases where any law had been challenged or needed constitutional interpretation — in line with the 26th Amendment that entailed the formation of constitutional benches.

Early life and career

Born in Dera Ismail Khan on Jan 23, 1965, Justice Afridi belongs to the Adam Khel clan of the Afridi tribe and is a resident of Kohat’s Babari Banda village. He comes from a family steeped in the tradition of public service.

Justice Afridi attended Aitchison College and Government College, Lahore for his schooling and undergraduate degree. He later obtained an MA in economics from Punjab University.

After being awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship, Justice Afridi completed his LLM from Jesus College at the University of Cambridge. He was subsequently selected for a scholarship programme for Young Commonwealth Lawyers at the Institute of Legal Studies in London.

He interned at Fox & Gibbons, Solicitors, in London, before returning to Pakistan, where he joined Orr, Dignam & Co. in Karachi as an associate. He started his private practice in Peshawar and also lectured at the Khyber Law College, where he taught international law, labour law and administrative law.

He was enrolled as a high court advocate in 1990 and a Supreme Court lawyer in 2004. He served as an assistant advocate general for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and as federal counsel for the federal government, while in practice.

Justice Afridi was elevated to the Peshawar High Court (PHC) as an additional judge in 2010, and confirmed as a PHC judge on March 15th, 2012.

He became the first judge from erstwhile Fata to assume the office of the PHC chief justice, when he took oath on Dec 30, 2016. He served in that office until his elevation to the SC on June 28, 2018.