KARACHI: Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, the senior most judge of the Sindh High Court, on Friday took the oath of acting chief justice of the SHC.

Justice Nadeem Akhtar, who has now become second in line on the seniority list, administered the oath at a ceremony held on the premises of the SHC. Judges and a large number of senior lawyers and government law officers attended the ceremony.

Acting Chief Justice Abbasi will run the affairs of the high court till the appointment of a regular chief justice by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP).

He has become the acting CJ after Justice Irfan Saadat Khan was elevated to the Supreme Court. Justice Khan held the office of acting chief justice for hardly a month as he took the oath on Oct 3 following the retirement of then chief justice Ahmed Ali M. Shaikh.

Born on June 16, 1963 in Karachi, Justice Abbasi was appointed as a judge of the SHC on Sept 25, 2009.

He was enrolled as an advocate of the subordinate judiciary and high court in 1990 and 1992, respectively. He had also become a lawyer of the Supreme Court in 2006.

Initially, he had started practice as a taxation and corporate law consultant in 1988 in the chamber of his father, Prof Masood Ahmed Abbasi, who was one of the pioneers on tax side and had established his law firm in 1949.

At present, the SHC is functioning with 33 judges including 27 permanent and six additional judges against the sanctioned strength of 40.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2023