LAHORE - Chief Justice Lahore High Court Khwaja Imtiaz Ahmad administered oath to eight newly appointed additional judges at principal seat here on Friday.
Judges working at principal seat, registrar, federal and provincial law officers, and some senior lawyers, officers of the court and families & friends of newly appointed judges attended the ceremony.
The newly appointed judges include Justice Ali Akbar Qureshi, Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed, Justice Khalid Mahmood Malik, Justice Ch. Mushtaq Ahmad, Justice Masud Abid Naqvi, Justice Shahid Karim, Justice Muhammad Iqbal and Justice Mirza Viqas Rauf.
With the fresh elevation, the number of judges in LHC reached 57 against a sanctioned strength of 60. Among them 29 were confirmed whereas 28 were additional. The Lahore High Court Bar Association, however, boycotted the oath taking ceremony expressing its reservation over the procedure of the appointment and on some of the judges appointed in the fresh batch. Lahore High Court Bar Association president Shafqat Mahmood Chohan called for a meaningful consultation with relevant bar before finalizing the nominees for judges’ post. Without naming, he also expressed reservation over appointment of those once discarded from judiciary. He stated terminated or discarded judges should not be reappointed. He said the bar’s cabinet had met Chief Justice of Pakistan and LHC Chief Justice and conveyed the reservations over the appointment process and some of the nominees.