LAHORE, Dec 24: President Pervez Musharraf has appointed Justice Syed Zahid Hussain as the new Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court. He will take oath of office on Jan 1, following the retirement of Justice Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhry.

A notification issued by the Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights on Monday said: “The president has been pleased to appoint Mr Justice Syed Zahid Husain, judge, Lahore High Court, to be the chief justice with effect from Jan 1, 2008.”

Justice Zahid will be the 37th chief justice of LHC.

He was appointed as an additional judge of the LHC on May 21, 1998, and was confirmed on May 19, 1999. He will retire on Dec 14, 2011. He belongs to Narowal.

Former Supreme Court Bar Association president Hamid Khan told Dawn that Mr Iftikhar Chaudhry had failed to get extension as LHC chief justice because of a possible rift between him (Justice Iftikhar) and Attorney-General Malik Qayyum over some issues. He said the lawyers’ community was happy over his departure because he had acted against both judges and lawyers during the recent judicial crisis. He said Mr Iftikhar had betrayed both judges and lawyers during the recent judicial crisis.

He said that the lawyers would not welcome new appointments unless the deposed judges were restored.