LAHORE, Sept 3: The chief justice of Lahore High Court, Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhry, on Wednesday administered oath to the eight newly-appointed LHC judges under the 1973 constitution.

Justice Mohammad Ghani, Muzamil Khan, Sardar Mohammad Aslam, Sheikh Hakim Ali, Nasim Sabir, Bilal Khan, Sheikh Abdur Rashid and Mohammad Akram Baitu took oath as the additional judges.

Other senior judges of the LHC, provincial and federal law officers, the provincial law secretary and the provincial adviser to the chief minister also attended the ceremony which was held in a newly-constructed committee room jampacked with lawyers.

The Pakistan Bar Council, Supreme Court Bar Association and Lahore High Court Bar Association boycotted the ceremony. Heads of the Punjab Bar Council and Lahore Bar Association attended the ceremony despite the Joint Action Committee boycott. The leadership of Rawalpindi High Court Bar Association, Tax Bar Association and Bahawalpur High Court Bar Association was also present on the occasion.

The JAC had boycotted the ceremony, saying that since the Chief Justice of Pakistan Sheikh Riaz Ahmad, who had recommended names for the posts of LHC judges to the president, was enjoying an extended tenure under the LFO, the appointments were not valid.

Later on, the newly-appointed judges heard cases in court.

The judges also visited the bar-room where they were received by the former vice-chairman of Punjab Bar Council, Mohammad Ramzan Chaudhry, and Pakistan Bar Council member Ashraf Wahla among other lawyers. The lawyers assured the judges of full cooperation in a speedy disposal of cases.

Our Correspondent in Bahawalpur adds: Only one of the new judges, Sheikh Hakim Ali, belongs to southern Punjab.

Justice Hakim is one of the senior-most lawyers of Bahawalpur. He belongs to the Ismaili community of Agha Khan.