Justice Jawwad S Khawaja to be sworn in as CJP today

ISLAMABAD: Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja, extolled by millions of people for his fearless and brilliant rulings and feared by dubious characters, will be sworn in as the chief justice of Pakistan on Monday. He will serve in the exalted position for just 23 days till September 10.
He will figure among the chief justices who had the briefest tenures. The superior court judges retire when they meet the mandatory age limit. Justice Khawaja succeeds Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk who had an illustrious judicial career.
Justice Nasirul Mulk’s two last landmark works included the findings of the three-member judicial commission on the charges of rigging in the 2013 general elections, burying the colossal political controversy, and legal justification of referring cases of civilian terrorists to the military courts. He headed these panels of judges. He became the chief justice on July 7, 2014 following the retirement of the incumbent top judge, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, after serving the prestigious office for 27 weeks. He had succeeded Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
On September 10, Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali will be sworn in as the chief justice to hold the coveted slot for 15 months.
Neither the president nor the prime minister or the government has a slight role in the appointment of the new chief justice. The president administers oath to the new chief as per the Constitution. The senior-most judge, after the outgoing chief justice, automatically gets the office.
Previously, Chief Justice Shahabuddin had the briefest tenure of just nine days. He served from May 3, 1960 to May 12, 1960. Justice Bashir Jehangri was the chief justice only for 24 days from January 7, 2002 to January 31, 2002.
Similarly, Justice Dr SA Rahman remained the chief justice for three months and three days from March 1, 1968 to June 3, 1968. Justice Fazal Akbar worked as the chief justice for five months and 13 days from June 4, 1968 to November 17, 1968.
Chief Justice Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui had to prematurely go home along with three other judges, hailing from Sindh, due to the machination of Pervez Musharraf after working as the chief justice for seven months and 26 days.
Justice Jawwad S Khawaja was born on September 10, 1950, in Wazirabad, District Gujranwala. He did his graduation in arts in 1971 from the FC College, Lahore, and LLB from the Punjab University Law College, Lahore in 1973.
He then obtained a Masters (LLM) degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1975. Thereafter, he was enrolled as advocate of the High Court in 1975 and as advocate of the Supreme Court in 1985. He remained in legal practice until his appointment as a judge of the Lahore High Court on April 21, 1999.
Justice Khawaja resigned his constitutional tenure on March 19, 2007 after the suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry by Musharraf. He then remained Professor of Law at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and headed the Department of Law and Policy until his appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court on June 5, 2009.