PESHAWAR, Aug 8: Justice Jehanzeb Rahim took oath as acting chief justice of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) here at the Governor’s House on Friday.

Governor NWFP Owais Ahmad Ghani administered oath to Justice Jehanzeb Rahim, who is the senior most judge of the high court.

Chief Minister NWFP Amir Haider Khan Hoti was also present on this occasion. The ceremony, besides the judges of the high court was also attended by some of the provincial ministers and senior government officials.

The post of the chief justice fell vacant after the retirement of chief justice Mohammad Raza Khan on Thursday. Justice Jehanzeb Rahim was appointed acting chief justice by President Musharraf Thursday night.

The oath-taking ceremony was expected in the morning however, it took place in the afternoon. Due to the same reason no judicial work could take place on Friday.

The practice of appointing an acting chief justice against a permanent vacancy had been abandoned after the historic Supreme Court’s verdict in the judges’ case in 1996. When that judgment was delivered three of the high courts were having acting chief justices including the Peshawar High Court where Justice Syed Ibne Ali had served in acting capacity for about a year.

The immediate reason for not appointing a permanent chief justice could not be ascertained, but some of the lawyers believed that the step was taken to avoid legal complications in case the government decided to restore the deposed judges in near future.

All the four deposed judges of the high court -- chief justice Tariq Pervez Khan, Justice Shahjehan Khan Yousafzai, Justice Ijaz Afzal Khan and Justice Dost Mohammad Khan, were senior to Justice Jehanzeb Rahim.

Justice Jehanzeb was appointed additional judge of the high court on January 3, 2005 and after a year he was confirmed as a judge of the high court. Prior to his elevation, he had served as the NWFP advocate general.