KARACHI, Aug 27: Eight of the former deposed judges and additional judges rejoined the Sindh High Court on Wednesday, with the senior-most among them, Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, assuming the office of chief justice.

Justice Azizullah M. Memon, the acting chief justice, administered oath to Justice Jamali as a judge of the high court first. Sindh Governor Ishrarul Ibad Khan then swore him in as the chief justice and seven others as judges.

Justice Memon became the senior puisne judge. Three notifications dated August 26 were issued by the federal law and justice division through its secretary Justice Agha Rafiq Ahmed Khan who is also a judge of the SHC.

A fourth notification raised the number of SHC judges, including the chief justice, from 28 to 40. The court is, however, still two short of its previous sanctioned strength of 28.

Deposed chief justice Sabihuddin Ahmed, senior puisne judge Sarmad Jalal Osmany and judges Mushir Alam, Gulzar Ahmed, Maqbool Baqar, Mohammad Saeed Athar and additional judge Arshad Siraj may also be ‘reappointed’ shortly if they are willing to take a fresh oath. They refused to take a new oath under the Provisional Constitution Order of Nov 3 last year.

The judges reappointed by the president under Article 193 of the Constitution on Wednesday with their seniority intact are Justices Khilji Arif Hussain, Amir Hani Muslim, Faisal Arab and Sajjad Ali Shah. The reinstated additional judges, first appointed by the president under Article 197 on Sept 15 last year for one year, are Justices Zafar Ahmed Khan Sherwani, Salman Ansari and Abdul Rasheed Kalwar. All three belong to the judicial service and served as district and sessions judges before their elevation.

The provisional new list of SHC judges in order of seniority is: Justice A.Z. Jamali (CJ), Justice A.M. Memon, Justice K.A. Hussain, Justice A.H. Muslim, Justice Munib Ahmed Khan, Justice Ms Yasmin Abbasy, Justice Ms Qaiser Iqbal, Justice Ali Sain Dino Metlo, Justice Faisal Arab, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, Justice Nadeem Azhar Siddiqui, Justice Abdur Rahman Faruq Pirzada, Justice Z.A.K. Sherwani, Justice Salman Ansari, Justice A.R. Kalwar, Justice Syed Mahmood Alam Rizvi, Justice Dr Rana Mohammad Shamim, Justice Khwaja Naveed Ahmed, Justice Khalid Ali Z. Qazi, Justice Agha Rafiq Ahmed Khan, Justice Syed Pir Ali Shah, Justice Bin Yamin, Justice Arshad Noor Khan, Justice Qamaruddin Bohra, Justice Ghulam Dastgir Shahani and Justice Farrukh Zia G. Shaikh.

Most of the cases were discharged on Wednesday because of the swearing-in. New cause lists are likely to be drawn with the induction of new judges.