ISLAMABAD: Justice Gulzar Ahmad has taken the oath as new Chief Justice of Pakistan today (Saturday).
In a ceremony held at Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad, President Dr Arif Alvi administered the oath to Justice Ahmed. Prime Minister Imran Khan, Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani and other ministers and officials were in attendance.
Justice Ahmed, who replaces Justice Asif Saeed Khosa as the chief justice, will serve till February 21, 2022.
Justice Gulzar was appointed as a Sindh High Court (SHC) judge on Aug 27, 2002, and served there before his elevation to the apex court on Nov 16, 2011. He had refused to take a fresh oath as SHC judge under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) on Nov 3, 2007.
Justice Gulzar was part of a seven-member bench which had convicted then prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in a contempt case for not implementing the apex court’s Dec 16, 2010 judgment on the National Reconciliation Ordinance. He was also part of a larger bench which had disqualified then prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the Panama Leaks case.
Soon after his elevation as CJP, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had hand-picked him to sit on his bench which had been overwhelmed by public-interest litigations. Justice Gulzar was also part of a number of high-profile proceedings during Iftikhar’s tenure. He is known for his honesty, integrity and boldness among members of superior bars.
Justice Gulzar doesn’t compromise on the integrity of court. He headed the bench which had disqualified PML-N MNA Talal Chaudhry in a contempt case. Similarly, he was the author of the judgment in the ex-CJP Iftikhar manhandling case in which police officers had been jailed.
Justice Gulzar has given different departments of the Sindh government a tough time over maladministration, especially on issues of land encroachment and poor public transport in Karachi.
He has also banned the use of unregistered motorcycle-rickshaws, better known as Qingqi rickshaws, across the country. According to a senior lawyer, Sindh government officials are scared that Justice Gulzar will give them a tough time over maladministration in the province.
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