LAHORE, Nov 19: Justice Mian Hamid Farooq took oath as Lahore High Court (LHC) judge on Monday under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) after recovering from a heart problem.

LHC Chief Justice Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhry administered the oath to Justice Farooq. All other LHC judges attended the ceremony. With this oath, the strength of the LHC judges rose to 21. Before promulgation of emergency rule, the high court had 31 judges.

After promulgation of the PCO on Nov 3, it is the fifth ceremony in which a judge took oath of his office.

Justice Farooq was born on Jan 3, 1947, and appointed additional judge of the LHC on May 2, 2001. He will retire on Jan 2, 2009, on reaching age of superannuation. He started practice in 1969 and enrolled as an advocate of the high court on May 13, 1971.

He had also been secretary general of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan from 1999 to 2001.