PESHAWAR: Ten newly-appointed additional judges of Peshawar High Court took oath of their offices on Tuesday, raising the number of judges to 23 against the sanctioned strength of 30 in the court.

Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim administered oath to the judges in a simple ceremony attended by judges, law officers, lawyers and staff officers, etc.

The appointed judges include Justice Mohammad Tariq Afridi, Justice Mian Abdul Fayyaz, Justice Farah Jamshed, Justice Inamullkah Khan, Justice Sabitullah Khan, Justice Salahud Din, Justice Sadiq Ali, Justice Syed Mudasser Ameer, Justice Aurangzeb and Justice Qazi Jawad Ehsanullah.

Prior to their elevation to the bench, PHC was having 13 judges, including its Chief Justice Ihstiaq Ibrahim. Of those 13 judges, only two were from the judicial service, whereas remaining 11 were from the bar.

Amongst the 10 new judges, two are from judicial service including Justice Farah Jamshed and Justice Inamullah Khan, whereas the remaining eight are from bar. Presently, out of the 23 judges, four are form district judiciary and 19 from bar.

Justice Farah Jamshed is now the lone female judge on the bench here as after the elevation of then PHC chief justice Musarrat Hilali to Supreme Court in 2023, PHC was without a female judge.

In Sept 2024, a notification was issued by federal law ministry pronouncing that President of Pakistan had increased the number of PHC judges to 30 from the existing 20. The new judges were nominated by Judicial Commission of Pakistan in its meeting on Feb 1.

Justice Ms Jamshed and Justice Inamullah, who were senior judicial officers, hail from Mansehra and Bannu, respectively, and their retirements, if confirmed as regular judges, will be in Jan 2032 and Sept 2029, respectively.

Both of them had joined judicial service in1994 as civil judges. They were promoted as additional district and sessions judges in 2007 and subsequently as district and sessions judges in 2011.

In their over three-decade long judicial career, they served against different key positions. Justice Ms Jamshed was also the first female director general of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Judicial Academy. Justice Inamullah served as additional registrar, PHC Dera Ismail Khan Bench.

All the seven judges elevated to the bench from the bar are senior lawyers considered well-versed in different fields of law. Justice Tariq Afridi and Justice Mian Abdul Fayyaz remained presidents of PHC Bar Association.

Justice Mudasser Ameer is considered well-versed in constitutional and corporate law and is a known face in cases related to National accountability Bureau (NAB).

Justice Qazi Jawad Ehsanullah is the son of a former judge of high court late retired Justice Qazi Ehsanullah Qureshi. He is also a prominent lawyer known for dealing with different categories of legal cases including constitutional, corporate, civil and criminal matters.

Similarly, Justice Sabituullah, Justice Sadiq Ali and Justice Salahuddin are experts in civil matters apart from other fields of law.

Justice Sadiq was member of KP Bar Council at the time of his elevation and had also served as its vice-chairman.

Moreover, Justice Aurangzeb was a prominent lawyer of Swat district, enjoying respect in the legal fraternity.

Except, Justice Tariq, Justice Abdul Fayyaz and Justice Sabitullah, the remaining seven judges were nominees of PHC Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2025