Justice Yahya Khan Afridi appointment as Pakistan’s Chief Justice
All 9 Members Except PTI and Sunni Ittehad Council Participate
Efforts to Involve PTI in Parliamentary Committee Meeting Fail
PTI’s Final Decision to Not Participate in the Meeting; Inform Speaker
ISLAMABAD ( WEB NEWS )
The 12-member special parliamentary committee has recommended the appointment of Justice Yahya Khan Afridi as the 30th Chief Justice of Pakistan. The second meeting of the special committee on the appointment of the Chief Justice lasted an hour and a half, attended by 9 members, excluding the three members from PTI and the Sunni Ittehad Council. The committee approved Justice Yahya Khan Afridi’s appointment with a two-thirds majority and sent his name to the Prime Minister for approval. The Prime Minister will send the Chief Justice’s appointment advice to the President, and after the President’s approval, the Ministry of Law and Justice will issue the official notification of the Chief Justice’s appointment. Justice Yahya Afridi will assume responsibilities as the 30th Chief Justice of Pakistan for a three-year term starting October 26, 2024, following the retirement of the current Chief Justice, Justice Qazi Faez Isa, on October 25.
Federal Minister for Law and Justice, Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar, told the media after the committee meeting that the committee had approved Justice Yahya Afridi’s appointment by a two-thirds majority. He further clarified that PTI boycotted the meeting regarding the Chief Justice’s appointment. Previously, the parliamentary committee reconvened after PTI’s refusal, but efforts to convince PTI failed. The Registrar of the Supreme Court, Ms. Jazeela Aslam, had sent three names to the parliamentary committee for the appointment of the Chief Justice of Pakistan: Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, and Justice Yahya Afridi. Along with these names, a brief report was sent, including a one-page profile of the judges, detailing their date of birth, education, legal career, and dates of appointment to the High Courts and the Supreme Court.
It is noteworthy that the nominated Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Yahya Afridi, was born on January 23, 1965, in Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He received his early education at Aitchison College, Lahore, and graduated from Government College Lahore. He earned an MA in Economics from Punjab University, Lahore. Justice Yahya Afridi also obtained an LLM from Jesus College, University of Cambridge, under a Commonwealth scholarship. He began practicing as a lawyer in the High Court in 1990 and started practicing in the Supreme Court in 2004. Justice Yahya Afridi also served as Assistant Advocate General for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In 2010, he was appointed as an additional judge of the Peshawar High Court and was made a permanent judge on March 15, 2012. On December 30, 2016, Justice Yahya Afridi took oath as Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court, and on June 28, 2018, he was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Govt. failed to to involve PTI in the parliamentary committee meeting
Government efforts to involve Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the parliamentary committee meeting set up for the appointment of the Chief Justice have failed, as PTI has made a final decision not to participate. The committee members informed the Speaker of the National Assembly about PTI’s non-participation. The committee members told the Speaker that a subcommittee had been formed to meet with Barrister Gohar and other PTI members, and they were formally invited to participate in the committee. However, PTI made the final decision not to attend the meeting.
On Tuesday, three members of the Sunni Ittehad Council, supported by PTI, were also included in the special committee formed through the 26th constitutional amendment to appoint the Chief Justice of Pakistan. These members included PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Khan, Barrister Ali Zafar, and Hamid Raza. Earlier, the subcommittee of the parliamentary committee invited Barrister Gohar and other PTI members to attend the meeting, and Maulana Fazlur Rehman also requested Asad Qaiser to participate in the meeting. However, due to the non-participation of PTI and Sunni Ittehad Council members, a four-member committee was formed to try to convince them, and the meeting was postponed until 8:30 PM. The committee formed by the parliament made efforts to convince all three members, but media reports indicated that all three members firmly and finally declined to attend.