President Zardari appoints Yahya Afridi as new Pakistan SC chief justice

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari approved on Wednesday the appointment of Justice Yahya Afridi, the third most senior judge of the supreme court, as the country’s next chief justice after he was selected on Tuesday night by a 12-member parliamentary panel.

The power to appoint a chief justice has shifted to parliament following a recent controversial amendment to the constitution. Afridi’s appointment was made by a 12-member government-dominated parliamentary committee tasked with choosing one of the three senior-most SC judges to succeed Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa, who is set to retire on Friday.

A notification issued on Wednesday by the law and justice ministry stated that the president was pleased to appoint Justice Afridi as the next chief justice for a term of three years with effect from October 26.

The new legislation, known as the 26th Constitutional Amendment, has also taken away the SC’s suo moto powers and given a crucial role to the executive in the formation of the constitutional bench, which now has to be nominated by a judicial commission packed with government nominees.

In the past the president used to appoint the senior-most SC judge as chief justice; according to this system senior puisne judge Mansoor Ali Shah was set to take charge.

The legal fraternity and jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) have separately announced protest campaigns against the legislation, which they describe as an attempt to make the judiciary subservient to the executive.

Senior lawyer and senator Hamid Khan urged Justice Yahya Afridi to reject the government’s offer to assume the role of chief justice. “Yahya Afridi should wait for his turn and preserve his honour and name. The government’s offer is designed to create divisions within the judiciary,” Hamid said at a press conference.