ISLAMABAD, Nov 27: In another major development after the appointment of new army chief on Wednesday, President Mamnoon Hussain approved the nomination of Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani as next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

The law ministry issued a notification soon after the president approved the appointment under Section 3 of Article 175 of the Constitution on the recommendation of the prime minister.

Outgoing Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who has been in the headlines during the five years of his tenure because of his judgments against the governments of Pervez Musharraf and the PPP and several actions of bureaucracy, will retire on Dec 11.

Also on Wednesday, the Supreme Court registrar wrote a letter to the president seeking time for the swearing-in ceremony of the new chief justice, which is likely to be held on Dec 12. Till late evening, the president’s spokesperson did not confirm the date and time of the ceremony.

Justice Jillani, who is the most senior judge of the apex court, has also been performing his duty as acting Chief Election Commissioner since Aug 16 when retired Justice Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, who had supervised the May 11 elections, resigned.

The new chief justice will hold the office for seven months and 18 days as he will reach superannuation on July 5 next year.

Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Ahmed Shah welcomed the appointment of Justice Jillani and expressed the hope that all institutions would work within their domains. His spokesman Waqar Gilani quoted him as saying: “There should be no judicial activism in the country and all state institutions should work within their own purview.”

Mr Shah, who is likely to become chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly in a couple of days, said that like all other state institutions the judiciary should also be answerable to parliament and the PAC.

Former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf, who had imposed the emergency in November 2007, suspended the constitution and detained Supreme Court judges, including Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, also welcomed the appointment of Justice Jillani.

He pasted a photograph of Justice Jillani on his Facebook page with a caption: “I congratulate Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani on his elevation as chief justice.”

According to information on SC website, Justice Jillani was born on July 6, 1949. He did his masters in political science from Forman Christian College, Lahore, LLB from the University of Punjab and a course in constitutional law from the University of London. He started his carrier as a lawyer from district courts in Multan in 1974 and was enrolled as an advocate of the high court in 1976. He was enrolled as an advocate of the Supreme Court in 1983.

He was promoted as additional advocate general of Punjab in 1988 and appointed advocate general in 1993. He took oath as a judge of the Lahore High Court on August 7, 1994, and was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court on July 31, 2004, where he served till imposition of the state of emergency on Nov 3, 2007.

He was made dysfunctional as a judge of the Supreme Court when he refused to take fresh oath under the PCO. After restoration of the judiciary he returned to the apex court in September 2009.