ISLAMABAD: Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali was sworn as the new Chief Justice of Pakistan during a ceremony held at the Presidency on Thursday.

President Mamnoon Hussain administered the oath to the new chief justice and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was also present on the occasion.

The ceremony was attended by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, senior Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Aitzaz Ahsan, former CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif, senior judges and lawyers and military officials.

Justice Jamali replaces Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja, who retired from his post on Wednesday after attaining superannuation. Justice Khawaja served as CJP for just 24 days.

Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali hails from the religious family of Hazrat Qutub Jamaluddin Ahmed Hansvi, the disciple and Khalifa of Baba Fariduddin Shakar Gunj.

His parents migrated to Pakistan from Jaipur, India in the year 1947. Justice Jamali was born on December 31, 1951 in the Pakistani city of Hyderabad.

Chief Justice Jamali completed Bachelors' Degrees in Commerce and Law from the University of Sindh in 1971 and 1973 respectively.

He enrolled at the Sindh Bar Council as an Advocate of the Lower Court in 1975. In 1977, he admitted and enrolled as an Advocate of the High Court in 1977, and an Advocate of the Supreme Court ten years later. He practised mainly civil and constitutional law in Hyderabad, as mentioned on the Sindh High Court website.

Justice Jamali was elevated as Judge of the Sindh High Court in May 1998.

He was among those judges who refused to take a fresh oath under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) in 2007. He was reappointed as Judge and Chief Justice High Court of Sindh on August 27, 2008 and elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court in August 2009.

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