President approves Justice Yahya Afridi's appointment as next CJP

President Asif Ali Zardari has appointed Justice Yahya Afridi as the next Chief Justice of Pakistan, succeeding the current CJP Qazi Faez Isa.

The President House issued a statement on Wednesday, announcing Justice Yahya Afridi’s appointment. He is expected to assume office on October 26.

The President of Pakistan appointed the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court under Article 175A(3), 177, and 179 of the Constitution.

A Special Parliamentary Committee (SPC) convened on Tuesday to select the next CJP with a two-thirds majority in the wake of the 26th Constitutional Amendment.

The Secretary Law presented the names of Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, and Justice Yahya Afridi to the Parliamentary Committee as potential candidates for the top post.

Representatives of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) boycotted the proceedings of the committee.

The committee approved the appointment of Justice Yahya Afridi as the CJP, Subsequently, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sent the recommendation to the President of Pakistan for approval.

A look at the career of Justice Yahya Afridi

Justice Yahya Afridi was born on January 23, 1965, in Dera Ismail Khan. He received his primary education from Aitchison College, Lahore.

He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics from Government College Lahore and went on to obtain a Master's degree in Economics from Punjab University.

Subsequently, he pursued further legal studies at Jesus College at Cambridge University, where he earned an LLM degree on a Commonwealth Scholarship.

Afridi began his legal career as a High Court advocate in 1990 and joined the Supreme Court bar in 2004.

During this time, he also served as Assistant Advocate General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Prior to his appointment as an Additional Judge of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) in 2010, Afridi was a partner in the law firm 'Afridi, Shah and Minallah.' His former partners, Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah, also became Supreme Court judges.

In 2012, when Justice Afridi was appointed as a permanent judge of the PHC, he separated from this law firm.

After serving four years as a judge of the PHC, Justice Afridi was appointed Chief Justice of the court on December 30, 2016. 

Following a six-year tenure at the PHC, he was elevated to the Supreme Court on June 28, 2018.