Justice Khawaja takes oath as CJP

ISLAMABAD: Justice Jawwad S Khawaja on Monday took oath as the 23rd Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) in a brief but impressive ceremony here at the President House.
President Mamnoon Hussain administered the oath to Justice Khawaja.
He has succeeded Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk and will hold the office for 23 days as he will be retiring on September 9.
For the first time in the history of the country, the oath and the whole ceremony was conducted in Urdu.
It was made sure that no word of any other language was used other than Urdu during the whole exercise.
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Army Chief General Raheel Sharif, Navy Chief Admiral Muhammad Zaka, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Chief Air Marshal Sohail Aman, Governor Punjab Malik Rafiq Rajwana, Chief Minister Balochistan Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch, federal ministers Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Senator Pervaiz Rashid, General Abdul Qadir Baloch, Anusha Rehman Ahmad Khan, Chairman Senate Mian Raza Rabbani, Leader of the House in the Senate Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq, former chief justices Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and Tassaduq Jilani, PTI leader Hamid Khan Advocate, members of parliament, lawyers and Supreme Court judges attended the ceremony.
The outgoing Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk was conspicuous by his absence in the oath-taking ceremony.
Upon the retirement of Justice Khawaja, Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali will be the senior most judge of the Supreme Court. Mr. Justice Saqib Nisar will replace him later.
Justice Khawaja took his oath in Urdu and he is the first judge in the history of Pakistan whose appointment order is not in English.
The appointment summary was written in Urdu because of an ongoing case being heard by a bench headed by him.
The case is about the promotion of Urdu in which the federal government has assured the court that an order has been issued making it mandatory for the president, prime minister, federal ministers and other official representatives to deliver their speeches in Urdu both inside the country and abroad.
In a landmark Supreme Court ruling earlier this month that upheld the establishment of military courts in the country, Justice Jawwad S Khawaja was among the six dissenting judges, who ruled that the 21st Amendment, which essentially gives legal cover to the said courts, was invalid.
Justice Khawaja was born on September 10, 1950 in the historic city of Wazirabad. He obtained a degree in law from the Punjab University.
He started his career as an advocate of the high court in 1975 and got a practicing license for the Supreme Court in 1985.
He also served as a visiting lecturer at the Punjab University Law College Lahore from 1975 to 1986.
Justice Khawaja also received his LLM from the University of Berkeley, California and taught at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) until his appointment as a Supreme Court judge in 2009.
He was the first judge to have resigned in protest from the high court in March 2007 after former President Pervez Musharraf virtually suspended the then chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and appointed Justice Javed Iqbal as the acting chief justice.
His resignation at the time was hailed by bars and jurists countrywide.
Justice Khawaja is known as an outspoken judge, whose interest in public litigation is a throwback to the era of former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, wherein the top functionaries were often grilled over corruption and poor governance.
A number of law officers and senior journalists believe that in the next 24 days, the newly appointed CJ may pass orders in some important cases.
Justice Khawaja is especially unhappy over the absence of local governments in the Punjab and Sindh. The matter is fixed for next week.
During his six-year tenure as an SC judge, Justice Khawaja has authored judgments, wherein guidelines are given for introducing reforms.
In one case, he sought recommendations from all stakeholders to end the police station (thana) culture.
In another case, he recently ordered all the provincial health departments to make legislation for the safety of labourers.
Due to Mr. Justice Khawaja’s special attention, the federal and provincial governments have regulated the services of lady health workers.
He also formed a media commission, wherein recommendations were given for making media laws.
While hearing a case concerning the implementation of the apex court’s December 10, 2013 judgment in the 35 missing persons’ case, he gave a tough time to the federal government and the defence minister was compelled to register an FIR against serving army men.
He also issued a verdict on the miserable condition of prisoners on May 28. It is expected that newly appointed CJP will make the SC Human Rights Cell effective, which has been redundant since the retirement of Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.
Breaking with tradition, Justice Khawaja Monday refused to get VIP protocol and a bullet-proof Mercedes Benz — a facility enjoyed by all the previous chief justices.