Yahya Afridi nominated new Pakistan CJP by parliamentary committee

The Special Parliamentary Committee, constituted for the first time in the country’s history for the appointment of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), has nominated Justice Yayha Afridi’s as the next CJP.

Justice Afridi, third on the seniority list, has been nominated by the committee members with two-thirds majority.

The development came after first round of in-camera meeting of the parliamentary panel comprising government and opposition members held in the afternoon at room no 5 of the Parliament House.

Justice Yahya Afridi, born on January 23, 1965, in D.I. Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, comes from the Federally Administered Tribal Area of Pakistan.

He began his education at Aitchison College in Lahore, where he completed his O and A Levels in 1980 and 1982, respectively. He then earned a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Government College, Lahore, in 1985, followed by an LL.B from Punjab University in 1988 and an M.A. in Economics in 1989. He furthered his studies with an LL.M. from Jesus College, Cambridge University, UK, in 1990.

He enrolled as an Advocate of the High Court in 1991 and as an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 2004. His professional experience includes roles as an associate at Orr, Dignam & Co. in Karachi and an intern at Fox & Gibbons in London, along with positions as Assistant Advocate General for the Government of NWFP and Federal Counsel for the Government of Pakistan. He was a partner at Afridi, Shah & Minallah from 1997 until 2012.

Justice Afridi was elevated to the bench as an Additional Judge on March 15, 2010, and confirmed as a Permanent Judge of the Peshawar High Court on March 15, 2012. He has served as an Inspection Judge for multiple districts and presided over specialized courts, including as Chairman of the Labour Appellate Tribunal and as Company Judge. 

Yahya Afridi is the third senior-most judge has also aserved as the Peshawar High Court's (PHC) chief justice from December 30, 2016, until his elevation to the SC in 2018.