QUETTA: President Dr Arif Alvi has appointed Justice Jamal Khan Mando­khail as Chief Justice of the Balochistan High Court (BHC).

According to an official notification issued by the law ministry on Thursday, the president has approved the appointment of the senior most judge of the BHC as its new chief justice.

Justice Mandokhail will be sworn in as the BHC chief justice on Oct 5 after the retirement of the current Chief Justice Tahira Safdar on Oct 4.

Justice Tahira Safdar is the first female chief justice of the BHC.

Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, who belongs to Zhob district of Balochistan, was born on Nov 12, 1961. He obtained his early education from F.G. High School, Quetta, and did his masters in political science and economics at the University of Balochistan.

In 1987 he obtained an LLB from the University Law College, Quetta, and started his practice as a lawyer in 1988. He was awarded a licence in 1990 for practice in the BHC. On May 12, 2001 he was allowed to practice in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Justice Mandokhail took an active part in the movement for reinstatement of Supreme Court judges and was arrested in Quetta during a lawyers’ procession. He was kept in district jail, Sibi.

He was appointed as additional judge of the BHC in 2009 and confirmed as a full judge in 2011. Justice Mandokhail has served as acting chief justice of the BHC four times.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2019