LAHORE: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Shamim Khan on Tuesday retired from the office as he reached superannuation.

A full court reference held in the honour of the outgoing chief justice was attended by Chief Justice-designate Mamoon Rashid Sheikh, Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan, Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti, Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmed Khan and Justice Shujaat Ali Khan as well as lawyers leaders, bar representatives and law officers.

Speaking on the occasion, outgoing CJ Khan said the LHC was an historical institution and it had been a great honour for him to be its head. He said the LHC had been protecting fundamental rights of people of the province while providing them with justice. He said speedy adjudication of pending cases and delivery of prompt justice had been his priority.

His second priority, he said, was to provide judiciary with infrastructure and effective measures to expedite completion of all under-construction projects so that judges, lawyers and litigant public could be given a better environment in the courts.

Chief Justice Khan further said steps had also been taken for swift decision of cases of overseas Pakistanis, for which special benches had been set up in the district judiciary and the LHC. He also highlighted the performance of Model Courts and ADR centres.

Chief Justice-designate Mamoon Rashid Sheikh said Justice Khan had become renowned for his ability to deliver justice while ensuring that the rights of all parties involved in a case were respected. Earlier, Prosecutor General Punjab Rana Muhammad Arif Kamal, Deputy Attorney General Asad Ali Bajwa, Additional Advocate General Akhtar Javed, Pakistan Bar Council member Azam Nazir Tarar, Punjab Bar Council Vice Chairman Shahnawaz Ismail, Lahore High Court Bar Association President Hafeezur Rehman Chaudhry and other bar leaders also read references in honour of the outgoing Chief Justice Khan.

Chief Justice-designate Sheikh will take oath of the office on Wednesday (today) at a ceremony to be held at Governor House.

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2020