Islamabad, Jul 8 (PTI) Four newly-appointed chief justices of the four high courts of Pakistan on Tuesday separately took oath of office.
The oath-taking ceremonies were held a day after President Asif Ali Zardari appointed the judges, based on the nominations by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP).
President Zardari administered the oath to Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar during a ceremony held at the President House in Islamabad.
The ceremony was attended by IHC judges, Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, ministers, parliamentarians and the legal fraternity, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
In separate ceremonies, Justice Syed Muhammad Attique Shah took oath as the Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice, Justice Rozi Khan Barrech was sworn in as Balochistan High Court’s (BHC) top judge, and Justice Junaid Ghaffar took the helm of the Sindh High Court (SHC).
Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori administered the oath to Justice Ghaffar at a ceremony held at the Governor House in Karachi. Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, fellow SHC judges and members of the Karachi Bar Association and SHC Bar Association were present on the occasion as well.
KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi administered the oath to Chief Justice Shah in Peshawar.
Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, Minister for States and Frontier Regions Amir Muqam, and KP Assembly’s opposition leader Ibadullah Khan attended the ceremony.
Balochistan Governor Jaffar Khan Mandokhail administered the oath to Justice Barech at a ceremony held in the evening at the Governor House.
Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti, Balochistan Assembly Speaker Abdul Khaliq Achakzai, and former governor and retired Justice Amanullah Yasinzai were present on the occasion, along with senior lawyers.
In a highly controversial move last year, the government transferred Justices Dogar, Muhammad Asif, and Khadim Hussain Soomro from the Lahore High Court, Balochistan High Court and Sindh High Court, respectively, to the Islamabad High Court.
Later, Justice Dogar was made chief justice. His colleagues opposed his elevation by saying that his transfer was against the law.
In February, five judges of the IHC had challenged the transfer of three judges to their court, which, in their opinion, had compromised the principle of seniority in the court.
A five-member panel of the apex court on June 19 issued a split 3-2 judgment to reject the petitions, ruling that the transfer of the judges was as per the Constitution, but referred the issue of seniority to the president of the country to decide it as per law.
Zardari decided that Justice Dogar was the senior most followed by others.
Later, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), which nominated chief justices, last week recommended Justice Dogar as the new chief justice of the IHC.
The commission also recommended Justice Rozi Khan Barrech as the chief justice for the Balochistan High Court, Justice Syed Muhammad Attique Shah for the Peshawar High Court and Justice Junaid Ghaffar for the Sindh High Court.
Following the recommendation, President Zardari on Monday formally appointed the four as chief justices of the respective high courts.