Justice Umar Ata Bandial takes oath as 28th Chief Justice of Pakistan

Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Wednesday took the oath as the 28th Chief Justice of Pakistan in a ceremony held at Aiwan-i-Sadr in Islamabad.

President Dr Arif Alvi administered the oath to the new CJP.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, federal ministers, services chiefs, judges and members from the legal fraternity attended the oath-taking ceremony.

Former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry was also present at the occasion.

Justice Bandial will serve as the CJP until Sept 16, 2023 when he is due to be replaced by Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

As per the scheme of seniority, Justice Isa would be CJP until Oct 25, 2024, when he is replaced by Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan for 282 days. Afterwards, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah will assume the top judicial office of the country on Aug 4, 2025.

He is expected to remain in office until Nov 27, 2027, when he would be succeeded by Justice Munib Akhtar. Justice Yahya Afridi would be the country’s next top judge from Dec 14, 2028 until Jan 22, 2030.

Profile

Born on 17.09.1958 in Lahore, Justice Umar Ata Bandial received his elementary and secondary education at different schools in Kohat, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Lahore.

He secured his B.A. (Economics) degree from Columbia University, USA followed by a Law Tripos degree from Cambridge University, UK and qualified as Barrister-at-Law from Lincoln’s Inn, London.

In 1983, he was enrolled as an Advocate of the Lahore High Court and some years later, as an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

In his law practice at Lahore, Justice Umar Ata Bandial dealt mostly with commercial, banking, tax and property matters. After 1993 until his elevation, Justice Umar Ata Bandial also handled international commercial disputes. He appeared in arbitration matters before the Supreme Court of Pakistan and also before international arbitral tribunals in London and Paris.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial was elevated as Judge of the Lahore High Court on 04.12.2004. He declined oath under PCO in November, 2007 but was restored as a Judge of the Lahore High Court as a result of the lawyers and civil society movement for revival of the Judiciary and Constitutional rule in the country.

Later, he served for two years as Chief Justice, Lahore High Court until his elevation as Judge of Supreme Court of Pakistan in June 2014.

During his career as Judge of the Lahore High Court and the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Justice Umar Ata Bandial has rendered judgments on a number of important public law and private law issues.

These include pronouncements on civil and commercial disputes, Constitutional rights and public interest matters.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial also taught Contract Law and Torts Law at the Punjab University Law College, Lahore until 1987 and remained a member of its Graduate Studies Committee while serving as Judge Lahore High Court.