Islamabad (Web Desk): President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday appointed Justice Yahya Afridi as the next Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) who will succeed incumbent CJP Qazi Faez Isa on October 26.
According to a President House press release, the president made the appointment of Justice Yahya Afridi for a period of three years with effect from October 26, 2024.
The appointment was made in exercise of the powers conferred under Articles 175 A (3), 177 and 179 of the constitution.
President Zardari also approved October 26 as the date for administering the oath of office to Justice Yahya Afridi as the next CJP.
The newly enacted 26th Constitutional Amendment has brought numerous changes pertaining to the judiciary, among which is the process of appointing the CJP.
The nomination of Justice Afridi was made by the Special Parliamentary Committee on Tuesday night, constituted for the first time in Pakistan’s history for the appointment of the CJP, with a two-thirds majority.
The committee, which deliberated for over an hour and a half, approved Afridi's name with a two-thirds majority. All parties except Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) participated in the proceedings.
The committee sent its recommendation for Justice Yahya Afridi to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, which was later approved by the president.
The nomination process began promptly after the legislation was approved by both houses of the Parliament.
A notification issued by the NA stated, "In terms of clause (3B) of Article 175A of the Constitution has been pleased to notify the Special Parliamentary Committee comprising members as per nomination by respective parliamentary leaders based on their strength in Parliament for the nomination of the Chief Justice of Pakistan," the NA notification read.
The committee officially comprised Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, Shaista Pervaiz Malik and Azam Nazeer Tarar; Raja Pervez Ashraf, Naveed Qamar and Senator Farooq H. NaeK of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) MNA Rana Ansar, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Senator Kamran Murtaza, Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) Hamid Raza and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-affiliated MNA Gohar Khan and Senator Ali Zafar.
However, committee’s member from PTI and SIC boycotted the process.
The new CJP had to be appointed from amongst Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Yahya Afridi, the three senior most judges of Supreme Court after the incumbent chief justice.
Earlier, the Supreme Court Registrar had submitted the names of the three senior-most judges for the committee’s consideration, and one of them had to be chosen to succeed the outgoing Chief Justice, Qazi Faez Isa.
Profile: Justice Yahya Afridi
Justice Afridi was born on January 23, 1965, in Dera Ismail Khan. He belongs to the Adam Khel section of the Afridi tribe located in the Kohat Frontier Region and is a resident of Village Babari Banda, District Kohat. He hails from a family with a strong tradition of public service.
Yahya Afridi completed his early education at Aitchison College Lahore, followed by a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics from Government College Lahore. He later earned a Master’s degree in Economics from Punjab University.
Afridi received a Commonwealth Scholarship and pursued an LLM at Jesus College, University of Cambridge.
He also participated in a scholarship programme for Young Commonwealth Lawyers at the Institute of Legal Studies in London.
Starting his legal career in Peshawar, he also lectured at Khyber Law College, teaching subjects like International Law, Labour Law, and Administrative Law.
Afridi was enrolled as an advocate of the High Court in 1990 and became an advocate of the Supreme Court in 2004.
He served as Assistant Advocate General for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and as Federal Counsel for the Government of Pakistan.
In 2010, he was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) and was confirmed as a Judge in March 2012.
Notably, Yahya became the first judge from the Federally Administered Tribal Area to be appointed Chief Justice of the PHC in December 2016, serving in that role until his elevation to the Supreme Court of Pakistan on June 28, 2018.
