RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: After a long time, the Supreme Court attained its sanctioned strength of judges on Thursday, when Justice Yahya Afridi, chief justice of Peshawar High Court, took oath as judge of the apex court.

Justice Yahya Afridi was administered the oath of office by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar.

The oat-taking ceremony held at Supreme Court building was attended by the Supreme Court judges, Attorney General for Pakistan, Advocate General Islamabad, senior lawyers, law officers, and officers of Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan and Federal Judicial Academy.

Proceedings of the oath taking ceremony were conducted by Supreme Court registrar Arbab Muhammad Arif. Officers and staff of the Supreme Court also attended the ceremony.

The sanctioned strength of Supreme Court judges is 17 including the Chief Justice of Pakistan. The sanctioned strength had been incomplete for the last many years due to untimely induction of judges against the vacant posts occurring on account of retirement of the judges.

According to available data, Justice Yahya Afridi was born on January 23, 1965 in DI Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He hails from FR Kohat.

Justice Afridi after doing O-Level and A-Level from prestigious Aitchison College, Lahore in 1980 and 1982, did his BA from Government College, Lahore, in 1985 and LLB from Law College, Punjab University, Lahore, in 1988. He did MA Economics, from Punjab University, Lahore, in 1989 and LLM from Jesus College, Cambridge University UK, in 1990.

He was enrolled as an advocate of the Supreme Court in 2004. He was elevated to the bench as additional judge on March 15, 2010 and was confirmed as permanent judge of the Peshawar High Court on March 15, 2012. He took oath as chief justice of the Peshawar High Court on December 30, 2016.