Justice Saqib Nisar takes oath as CJP today

LAHORE: Justice Saqib Nisar will take oath today (Saturday) as the 25th Chief Justice of Pakistan, just 18 days before his 63rd birthday that falls on January 18, 2017. He will be succeeding Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, who has vacated the office after having served for 468 days since September 10, 2015.

History reveals that the 19th Chief Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui had also assumed office on December 31. He had served between December 31, 2003 and June 29, 2005. Justice Saqib Nisar will remain on this post until January 17, 2019, his retirement date. He has been a judge of the Supreme Court since February 18, 2010.

Before taking charge as a judge of the Lahore High Court on May 22, 1998, he was an advocate of the Supreme Court Bar Association and Lahore High Court Bar Association between 1982 and 1998. He was elected secretary general of Lahore High Court Bar Association for the year 1991-1992. 

On March 29, 1997, Justice Saqib Nisar was also appointed as federal law secretary, immediately after Nawaz Sharif had taken charge from the caretaker premier Malik Meraj Khalid. While Pakistan’s longest-serving chief justice was Mohammad Haleem, the shortest-serving chief justice was Muhammad Shahabuddin, who had died in office just nine days after taking oath. Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry remains the only chief justice of the country to  have served three non-consecutive terms. 

Ex-president Pervez Musharraf had appointed six nominees to the prestigious post of country’s chief arbiter, the most by any Pakistani head of state.  Ayub Khan had appointed five chief justices. 

Here follows the list of all the Pakistani chief justices during the last 67-and-a-half years and their tenures in office: First Chief Justice Abdul Rashid (June 27, 1949 to June 29, 1954) or 1,826 days. 

2nd Chief Justice Muhammad Munir (June 29, 1954 to May 2, 1960) or 2,134 days.

3rd Chief Justice Muhammad Shahabuddin (May 3, 1960 to May 12, 1960) or just 9 days. 

4th Chief Justice AR Cornelius (May 13, 1960 to February 29, 1968) or 2,848 days. 

5th Chief Justice SA Rahman (March 1, 1968 to June 3, 1968) or 94 days. 

6th Chief Justice Fazal Akbar (June 4, 1968 to November 17, 1968) or 166 days. 

7th Chief Justice Hamoodur Rehman (November 18, 1968 to October 31, 1975) or 2,538 days. He had died in office. 

8th Chief Justice Yaqub Ali (November 1, 1975 to September 22, 1977) or 691 days. 

9th Chief Justice Anwarul Haq (September 23, 1977 to March 25, 1981) or 1,279 days. 

10th Chief Justice Mohammad Haleem (March 23, 1981 to December 31, 1989) or 3,205 days. 

11th Chief Justice Afzal Zullah (January 1, 1990 to April 18, 1993) or 1,203 days. 

12th Chief Justice Nasim Hassan Shah (April 17, 1993 to April 14, 1994) or 362 days. 

Acting Chief Justice Saad Saud Jan (April 15, 1994 to June 4, 1994) or 50 days. 

13th Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah (June 5, 1994 to December 2, 1997) or 1,276 days. 

14th Chief Justice Ajmal Mian (December 27, 1997 to June 30, 1999) or 550 days. 

15th Chief Justice Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui (July 1, 1999 to January 26, 2000) or 209 days. 

16th Chief Justice Irshad Hasan Khan (January 26, 2000 to January 6, 2002) or 711 days. 

17th Chief Justice Bashir Jehangiri (January 7, 2002 to January 31, 2002) or 24 days. 

18th Chief Justice Sheikh Riaz Ahmed (February 1, 2002 to December 31, 2003) or 698 days. 

19th Chief Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui (December 31, 2003 to June 29, 2005) or 546 days.

First tenure of 20th Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry (June 29, 2005 to March 9, 2007) or 618 days. 

Acting Chief Justice Javaid Iqbal (March 9, 2007 to March 24, 2007) or 15 days only. 

Acting Chief Justice Rana Bhagwandas (March 25, 2007 to July 20, 2007) or 87 days. 

Then started the second tenure of 20th Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry (July 20, 2007 to November 3, 2007) or 136 days.

Then Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar followed to serve for 504 days between November 3, 2007 and March 21, 2009 but his stint in office was discounted from the tally, as his appointment was subsequently voided by the Supreme Court. 

Or to put it more explicitly, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar’s Recess appointment was later rejected by the Supreme Judicial Council and all his decisions were voided due to illegality of appointment. 

Interestingly, on September 9, 2008, Justice Dogar had administered the oath to the then president Asif Ali Zardari under the Third Schedule of 1973 Constitution at the Aiwan-e-Sadr. 

The 20th Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry again called shots between March 21, 2009 and December 11, 2013 for 1,726 days. 

21st Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani served between December 12, 2013 and July 6, 2014 for 176 days. 

22nd Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk (July 7, 2014 to August 16, 2015) or 435 days. 

It is noteworthy that Justice Nasirul Mulk had taken oath under the PCO in January 2000. 

23rd Chief Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja (August 17, 2015 to September 9, 2015) or just 23 days. 

24th Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali had then assumed office on September 10, 2015 and his tenure ended on December 30, 2016, after having served for 468 days.