PESHAWAR: Three additional judges of Peshawar High Court took oath on Monday, taking the number of judges of the court to the sanctioned strength of 20.

Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan administered oath to the new judges -- Justice Fazal Subhan, Justice Shahid Khan and Justice Dr Khurshid Iqbal.

Before their elevation, all the three were serving as district and sessions judges against different posts.

The oath taking ceremony was attended by judges of the high court, representatives of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council, presidents and other cabinet members of Peshawar High Court Bar Association and Peshawar District Bar Association and judicial officers.

These additional judges were appointed by President Dr Arif Alvi on July 13 for a period of one year. However, their appointment will be subject to the final outcome of an appeal pending before the Supreme Court against a judgment of the high court ordering their appointment.

The notification of their appointment was issued to implement the high court’s judgment issued on May 10, 2022, setting aside the January 19 decision of Parliamentary Committee for Appointment of Judges against confirming the recommendations of Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) to elevate the three district and sessions judges as additional judges of PHC.

Justice Fazal Subhan belongs to Mardan district. He was born on July 1, 1963. He joined the judiciary as civil judge in July 1990. After serving against different posts including that of senior civil judge and additional district and sessions judge, he was promoted as district and sessions judge in May 2011.

Justice Shahid Khan hails from Charssada district. He was born on September 25, 1962. He also joined judiciary as civil judge in 1990 and was promoted as district and sessions judge in 2011. He has also served against different posts including administrative judge of accountability courts in Peshawar.

Justice Dr Khurshid Iqbal belongs to Nowshera district. He was born on January 1, 1968. He joined judiciary in 1992 and was promoted as district and sessions judge in 2011. He has done his PhD from Ulster University, UK and LLM from Hull University, UK.

He has served against several posts including that of director general of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Judicial Academy. He was also the first dean of faculty of the academy.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2022