Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim appointed acting CJ of PHC

ISLAMABAD: Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim has been appointed as the acting chief justice (CJ) of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) following the approval of President Asif Ali Zardari, a notification issued on Friday read.

The tenure of the senior-most judge of the PHC will be effective from the day of swearing-in, according to the official statement.

The senior judge would perform duties as an acting CJ before being elevated to the permanent PHC chief justice post-approval of the judicial and the parliamentary committees, it concluded.

In another development, the Ministry of Law and Justice notified making six additional judges of the Sindh High Court permanent following the approval of President Zardari.

The judges include Justice Amjad Ali Bohio, Justice Sana Akram Minhas, Justice Jawad Akbar Sarwana, Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro, Justice Abdur Rehman, and Justice Arbab Ali Hakro.

The Judicial Commission had recommended to make the six judges permanent, which was approved by the parliamentary committee.

Last month, former president Dr Arif Alvi approved the appointment of three judges, including Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, and Justice Malik Shehzad Ahmed Khan, of the superior judiciary.

Then Balochistan High Court (BHC) Chief Justice Afghan was elevated to the Supreme Court following the ex-president’s order. Later, Justice Afghan took oath as the top court’s judge on March 11 which was administered by the Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa.

Subsequently, senior-most judge Justice Kakar was appointed as the acting chief justice of the BHC.

Additionally, Justice Khan was also sworn in as the Lahore High Court’s chief justice following the president’s approval.