PESHAWAR, Aug 7: Justice Jehanzeb Raheem was appointed as acting chief justice of the Peshawar High Court by President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday night.

A notification in this regard was issued by the law and justice division in Islamabad.

Justice Jehanzeb, the senior-most judge of the high court, was appointed as the acting chief justice under Article 196 of the Constitution. He will take oath of his office on Friday.

The post became vacant with the retirement of Chief Justice Mohammad Raza Khan on Thursday.Justice Jehanzeb is a former NWFP advocate-general, who was appointed additional judge of the high court on Jan 3, 2005.

After a year he was confirmed as a judge of the high court. He has also remained president of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association.

He was born on March 10, 1952, and his retirement from the high court is due in 2014.

At the time of imposition of emergency by Gen Pervez Musharraf on Nov 3, Justice Jehanzeb was 10th on the seniority list of the judges. He had taken fresh oath under the PCO and later taken oath under the Constitution when the emergency was lifted and the Constitution was restored.

Following the retirement of Justice Raza, there are now nine judges functioning in the high court whereas the sanctioned strength of judges is 15. At present, Justice Jehanzeb, Justice Said Maroof Khan and Justice Hamid Farooq Durrani are confirmed judges and the rest are functioning as additional judges.