Parliamentary body picks Afridi as next chief justice

ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary committee formed under the 26th constitutional amendment on Tuesday picked Justice Yahya Afridi as the next chief justice of Pakistan.

At its maiden session to select the chief justice from among the three senior most judges of the apex court, the list sent by the outgoing CJP was presented. However, four members belonging to the PTI refused to attend the meeting and as a result the session was delayed till the night.

Later, a team from the PTI led by its chairman Gohar Ali Khan met the NA speaker and said that the PTI leadership had decided not to participate in the committee meeting. 

The other committee members then held a meeting and after deliberation picked the name of Justice Afridi for the top post. Justice Afridi is third on the list of senior most judges of the court.

Before the 26th constitutional amendment, the senior most judge of the Supreme Court automatically became its chief upon the retirement of the incumbent. The committee will now send the name to the Prime Minister who will advise the President for final appointment of the chief justice.

The committee should select a name for the post three days before the retirement of the outgoing CJP. Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa is retiring on October 25.

The committee consisted of PML-N’s Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, Shaista Pervaiz Malik and Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar; PPP’s Raja Pervez Ashraf, Naveed Qamar and Senator Farooq H. Naek; Sunni Ittehad Council’s Hamid Raza; PTI-affiliated MNA Gohar Khan and Senator Ali Zafar; Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan MNA Rana Ansar; and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl’s Senator Kamran Murtaza.