KARACHI: Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi took the oath of the chief justice of the Sindh High Court on Tuesday.

Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori administered the oath at a ceremony held on the premises of the SHC. It was attended by caretaker Chief Minister retired Justice Maqbool Baqar, judges of the high court and a large number of senior lawyers.

Justice Abbasi, who has already been serving as the acting chief justice of the SHC since Nov 3, was notified as the regular chief justice by the ministry of law & justice on Dec 14.

He became the senior most judge of the SHC after then acting CJ Irfan Saadat Khan was elevated to the Supreme Court.

After taking the oath, the chief justice along with several judges of the SHC visited the mausoleum of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and offered prayers and paid tribute to the father of the nation.

Talking to journalists at the Mazar-i-Quaid, the chief justice said that it was indeed an honour for him to head the SHC, but at the same time it was also a big task.

CJ Abbasi vowed that he would try his best to ensure that justice was not only done, but must also be seen to be done.

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 in 1990 and the high court in 1992. He had become a lawyer of the Supreme Court in 2006.

In 1988, he had started practice as a taxation and corporate law consultant in the chambers 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 judges.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2023