PESHAWAR, Aug 6: The Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Mohammad Raza Khan will attain superannuation on Thursday.

Justice Mohammad Raza has served as chief justice for about six-and-a-half months after he was appointed on the post with the death of the then incumbent Justice Tallat Qayyum Qureshi on Jan 18.

Justice Raza was appointed additional judge of the high court on Jan 3, 2005, and after a year he was confirmed as a judge of the high court in 2006. He was the only judge of the PHC who was appointed as the chief justice after serving as confirm judge for a short duration of about two years.

He was ninth on the seniority list of judges when General Pervez Musharraf had imposed emergency in the country on Nov 3, 2007, and ordered judges to take fresh oath under the Provisional Constitution Order.

Justice Raza had taken oath under the PCO and later on again took oath under the Constitution when the emergency was lifted and constitution was restored.

With a day left in his retirement, guessing game was going on in the legal circles about appointment of the new chief justice. Presently, apart from the chief justice there are only three confirmed judges whereas rest of the six judges were appointed after proclamation of emergency and have been serving as additional judges.

The line of seniority of the three confirmed judges is: Justice Jehanzeb Raheem, Justice Said Maroof Khan and Justice Hamid Farooq Durrani. If the federal government follows the principle of seniority laid down by the Supreme Court in the famous judges’ case, then Justice Jehanzeb Raheem has to be appointed as the high court chief justice.

The lawyers’ community also remained in grip of rumours that the federal government was contemplating to appoint Justice Qaim Jan Khan, a judge of the Supreme Court elevated from the PHC after imposition of emergency, as acting chief justice of the high court.