Justice Yahya Afridi: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has appointed Supreme Court Justice Yahya Afridi as the next Chief Justice of Pakistan. The information was given in a statement by the President of the Republic of Poland on Wednesday. The Press Wing of the Presidency of the Republic of Poland informed that the appointment has a fixed period of three years and will be effective from October 26, 2024.
The statement said, “This appointment has been made in terms of Articles 175a, Sections 3, 177 and 179 of the Constitution.” It was also said that the President also approved the inauguration of Justice Yahya Afridi as the Chief Justice on October 26. The appointment came after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sent a recommendation for the appointment to the President after the nomination by a parliamentary committee.
What was the rule before and now?
Recall that soon after the retirement of the current Chief Justice of Pakistan, the most senior judge was promoted to the post. However, a constitutional amendment introduced by the parliament on Sunday gave the parliamentary committee the power to select any of the three most senior judges of the Supreme Court for the post.
Who is Yahya Afridi
Judge Afridi was born on January 23, 1965, in Dera Ismail Khan. He belongs to the Afridi tribe located on the border of Kohat. He is a resident of Banda village. He received his early education from Aitchison College, Lahore. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics from Government College, Lahore, and later a master’s degree in economics from the University of the Punjab, Lahore.
It is worth noting that Afridi, 59, started his career as a lawyer in 1990 and was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 2018, after serving as the Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was appointed.
