PESHAWAR, Oct 18 Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, who remained steadfast and declined to take fresh oath before the restoration of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, will take oath as 21st chief justice of Peshawar High Court on Oct 20.

Prior to this the present PHC Chief Justice, Tariq Pervez Khan, will be administered oath as a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday night ordered the elevation of Justice Tariq Pervez to the apex court and the appointment of Justice Ejaz Afzal as chief justice of PHC with effect from Oct 20.

Justice Tariq Pervez and Justice Ejaz Afzal were among the four judges of PHC who had not taken oath under the Provisional Constitution Order in November 2007 promulgated by General (retired) Pervez Musharraf under emergency.

Two other judges, Justice Shahjehan Khan Yousafzai and Justice Dost Mohammad Khan, along with Justice Tariq Pervez, had taken fresh oath in September 2008 under the Farooq Naek formula for the reinstatement of the judges.

Justice Ejaz Afzal, however, had declined to alter his stand that he would rejoin the court only after the dismissed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was restored. That happened in March 2009 and he was restored as a judge of the high court.

Even prior to the imposition of emergency, Justice Ejaz Afzal had assumed fame when he was appointed to conduct an inquiry into the incident of manhandling of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry by the law enforcement agencies in March 2007 when he was going to attend the proceedings of Supreme Judicial Council where a reference was filed against him.

After recording evidence of journalists, police officers and other witnesses, the inquiry commission had held top capital administration and police guilty of committing contempt of the court by interfering with the course of administration of justice.Justice Ejaz Afzal was born in Mansehra on May 8, 1953. His retirement as a judge of the high court is due on May 7, 2015. He did his graduation from Khyber Law College, Peshawar, in 1977. He got the licence to practice in the high court in 1979 and in 1991 he was awarded the licence to appear before the Supreme Court.

Justice Ejaz Afzal was appointed additional judge of the high court in 2000 under the PCO by General (retired) Pervez Musharraf and in 2001 he was confirmed as a judge of the high court.

Among the legal circles he enjoys a lot of respect due to his honesty and competency. He is known for delivering judgments without any fear or favour.

Interestingly, with the appointment of Justice Ejaz Afzal as chief justice the most senior judge Justice Shahjehan Khan has been superseded. He was appointed as an additional judge in 1997 and confirmed as a judge of the high court in 1998.

Legal experts said that in the light of the famous Supreme Court's judgment in Al-jehad Trust Case popularly known as Judges Case of 1996, the president/executive could not ignore most senior judge for appointment as the chief justice in the absence of any concrete and valid reason.