Justice Yahya Afridi has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
The committee voted by a two-thirds majority.
Anticipated opposition from PTI in Chief Justice appointment.
PESHAWAR
GHAG Report
The Special Committee of Parliament for the Appointment of the Chief Justice of Pakistan has approved the appointment of Yahya Afridi from Kohat as the Chief Justice of Pakistan by a two-thirds majority, after which he will be the next Chief Justice of Pakistan as per procedure. The meeting of the committee was held in Islamabad last night, which was boycotted by the PTI, but the name of the undisputed figure Yahya Afridi was nominated after considering three names in accordance with the decision of the 26th Constitutional Amendment. The three names that were considered in the parliamentary committee meeting based on seniority were Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Muneeb Akhtar and Yahya Afridi. The committee, expressing consensus on the non-controversial judge Justice Yahya Afridi in the context of the ongoing situation, forwarded his name as the next Chief Justice to the Prime Minister, who will issue a notification of his appointment by the President of Pakistan following the procedure.
Political and journalistic circles have welcomed the decision, but PTI has not only openly opposed it as expected. Rather, the party’s lawyer Hamid Khan has announced a protest against the decision in an interview, as well as “advising” Yahya Afridi to apologize for accepting the decision under the conspiracy theory.
According to media reports, 8 votes came in favor of Afridi in the meeting of the parliamentary committee. JUI-F’s Kamran Murtaza voted in favor of Justice Mansoor Ali Shah.
Justice Yahya Afridi belongs to the Kohat region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He studied at Aitchison College Lahore, did his LLB from the University of Cambridge and was also part of the large bench hearing the reference against Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s execution. He is the son of Omar Khan Afridi, a prominent bureaucrat of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, who has also been the Chief Secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, among other important posts. ۔
According to the media reports, the President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari will take the oath from the newly appointed Chief Justice of Pakistan on October 26, 2024.