CJP Afridi administers oath to newly-appointed Supreme Court judges

• Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori administers oath to acting SHC CJ.
• Justice Junaid Ghaffar sworn in oath-taking ceremony in Karachi. 
• Judges' elevation to Supreme Court issue faces controversy. 

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi on Friday administered oath to the six newly-appointed Supreme Court judges in a swearing-in ceremony at the apex court.

The new judges include former Balochistan High Court (BHC) chief justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, ex-Sindh High Court (SHC) chief justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui, SHC senior puisne judge Salahuddin Panhwar, Peshawar High Court (PHC) judge Shakeel Ahmad, ex-Islamabad High Court (IHC) chief justice Aamer Farooq, and ex-PHC chief justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, whose appointments had been approved by President Asif Ali Zardari.

Meanwhile, CJP Afridi also administered an oath to Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb as an acting apex court judge.

The Ministry of Law and Justice had notified the elevation of these six judges on Thursday after their appointment by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) and the president's approval.

Separately, Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori administered the oath to acting SHC Chief Justice Junaid Ghaffar in an oath-taking ceremony in Karachi. His appointment was also notified by the law ministry.

Moreover, President Asif Ali Zardari administered the oath to Justice Sarfraz Dogar, who has been sworn-in as IHC's acting chief justice.

Meanwhile, Justice Attique Shah was also sworn in as acting PHC top judge in an oath taking ceremony in Peshawar. KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi administered the oath to him.

Justice Ejaz Swati, meanwhile, has taken oath as the acting chief justice of the Balochistan High Court. The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Governor House in Quetta, where Governor Sheikh Jaffar Mandokhail administered the oath to Justice Swati.

The acting judges will serve their posts till the appointment of a regular justice in their place. 

Apart from notifying the six SC judges, the government also issued notification of the appointment of IHC's Justice Aurangzeb as the SC acting judge in light of the JCP's decision earlier this week.

The judges' elevation issue was not left without controversy. It may be noted that PTI's Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Senator Ali Zafar and two SC judges, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Munib Akhtar had boycotted the JCP's meeting.

The PTI senator along with four SC judges including Justice Shah, Justice Akhtar, Justice Ayesha A Malik and Justice Athar Minallah had called on the CJP to postpone the JCP meeting "till the challenge to the 26th Constitutional Amendment is decided one way or the other".

This was followed by another letter by Senator Zafar calling for the deferment of the JCP huddle until the controversy surrounding the seniority of IHC judges was settled.