PHC judges take oath

PESHAWAR: Two newly appointed additional judges of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) took oath here on Friday.PHC Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel administered oath to Justice Muhammad Ibrahim Khan and Justice Muhammad Ishtiaq Ibrahim at a ceremony.

With the appointment of the two judges, the number of PHC judges has risen to 16 against the sanctioned strength of 20 judges.The President of Pakistan, on the advice of the Prime Minister, had approved the appointment of the two additional judges of PHC for a period of one year.

Additional Registrar Tariq Suhail read out the notification.Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) President Muzzamil Khan, KP Bar Council Vice-Chairman Tariq Afridi, law officers from the office of Advocate General and Deputy Attorney General Office, senior lawyers, advocates and members of legal fraternity attended the ceremony in large numbers.

Welcoming the appointment of new additional judges of the PHC, the PHCBA President Muzzamil Khan said the appointment of two new judges would not only reduce burden of cases on the benches, but also considerably bring down the backlog of work at the high court’s principal seat and four circuit benches.

Pointing out that the PHC was still short of four judges, PHCBA Vice President Yousaf Riaz Khalil asked the Chief Justice of Pakistan to fill the posts urgently as the backlog of work increased due to shortage of judges. 

As per the statistics issued on the website of PHC, currently 30,765 cases are pending before the high court.Born in Swabi on April 15, 1962, Justice Muhammad Ibrahim Khan received his early education from the Cadet College Kohat and FG College for Men No.1 Islamabad.

He did graduation from Law College, University of Peshawar, in May 1984 with distinction as gold medallist and presidential award winner.He practiced law at the Peshawar High Court as well as subordinate courts for eight years. He also served as lecturer at the International Islamic University, Islamabad, and the Law College, University of Peshawar.

Ibrahim Khan joined the judiciary on November 1, 1993 and started his judicial career as additional district and sessions judge. He remained additional district and sessions judge Kohat, Charsadda, Mansehra, Peshawar and Haripur. His last appointment was in Mardan as the district and sessions judge.

Earlier, he served as district and sessions judge Shangla, Dera Ismail Khan and Hangu. He also served at the Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Human Rights Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.He also served as judge of special courts in the province and as administrative judge of Accountability Courts, Peshawar.