Justice Yahya Afridi was sworn in as Pakistan’s 30th Chief Justice on Saturday, succeeding Justice Qazi Faez Isa. The oath was administered by President Asif Ali Zardari in a formal ceremony at Aiwan-e-Sadr. Justice Afridi will serve a fixed three-year term as the country’s top judge, having assumed office following Justice Isa’s retirement on October 25.
Justice Afridi is the first Chief Justice appointed under Articles 175A(3), 177, and 179 of the Constitution after the enactment of the 26th Constitutional Amendment. The oath-taking ceremony saw attendance from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir, other senior military officials, Supreme Court judges including Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Ayesha Malik, former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, as well as provincial leaders and parliamentarians.
Career Overview of Justice Yahya Afridi Born on January 23, 1965, in Dera Ismail Khan, Justice Afridi is from the Afridi tribe’s Adam Khel section in the Kohat Frontier Region, and his family has a longstanding tradition of public service. He completed his early education at Aitchison College, Lahore, earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Economics from Government College Lahore, and pursued a Master’s in Economics from Punjab University, Lahore.
After securing a Commonwealth Scholarship, he completed an LLM from Jesus College, University of Cambridge, followed by a Young Commonwealth Lawyers scholarship program at the Institute of Legal Studies, London. Justice Afridi began his law practice in Peshawar and lectured on International Law, Labour Law, and Administrative Law at Khyber Law College, University of Peshawar.
He was registered as an advocate of the High Court in 1990 and of the Supreme Court in 2004, also serving as Assistant Advocate General for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and as Federal Counsel for Pakistan. Elevated to the Peshawar High Court Bench as an Additional Judge in 2010, he was confirmed as a permanent judge in March 2012. Justice Afridi became the first judge from the Federally Administered Tribal Area to serve as Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court in December 2016 and continued until his elevation to the Supreme Court in June 2018.
