ISLAMABAD - President Mamnoon Hussain on Sunday administered oath of office to Justice Nasirul Mulk as Chief Justice of Pakistan at a ceremony held here at Aiwan-e-Sadr.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Senate Chairman Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari, members of the federal cabinet, parliamentarians, services chiefs, members of diplomatic community, senior officers and former Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani attended the oath-taking ceremony.
Later, Justice Nasir bid farewell to Justice Jillani at the Chief Justice of Pakistan House in Islamabad, carrying forward the good tradition. The outgoing chief justice had laid down the robes of his office on Saturday. Both the dignitaries also exchanged pleasantries on the occasion.
Justice Nasirul Mulk belongs to Mingora. His father, Kamran Khan, was a businessman known for his philanthropic work in Swat. The dapper Justice Nasir is fond of playing golf.
“He was a teacher who had complete command on his subject and avoided controversies,” recalled Advocate Khawaja Azhar Rasheed, who was a student of Justice Nasir at Khyber Law College, Peshawar University. “He always came into the classroom well prepared.”
Justice Nasir faced many challenges and is one of the seven judges who signed a restraining order on Nov 3, 2007, when retired Gen Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency and forcibly sent the judges home. He later joined the judiciary on Sept 20, 2008, under the Naek formula when he took a fresh oath as a judge of the Supreme Court with his seniority intact.
Justice Nasirul Mulk dissented from a majority judgement while deciding an appeal filed by Mukhtaran Mai for the enhancement of the sentence of her rapists and against their acquittal. He partially accepted Mukhtaran Mai’s appeal by setting aside the high court’s verdict of the acquittal of the accused on April 21, 2011.
Justice Nasir resigned from the post of the acting Chief Election Commissioner the day he was designated as the next chief justice. However, he still holds the office of the chairman of the enrolment committee of the Pakistan Bar Council as well as the chairman of the building committee of the under-construction Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) complex being built at a cost of Rs650 million.
In the present lot of the Supreme Court judges, six judges would become the chief justice of Pakistan.
On the retirement of Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani on July 5, 2014, there are 16 judges in the Supreme Court. Justice Athar Saeed would retire in September this year, while Justice Nasirul Mulk, Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry will retire by the end of next year.
Justice Nasirul Mulk will remain chief justice for 1 year, one month and 12 days and will retire on 16th August 2015. After him Justice Jawwad S Khawaja will be chief justice. His term will be the shortest as he will be the CJP for only 23 days and retire on 8th September 2015. The longest serving chief justice in all the chief justice will be Justice Gulzar Ahmed. He will be chief justice for two years, one month and 10 days from 21st December 2019 till 1st February 2022.
Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali will then become the chief justice for one year, three months and 22 days and will retire on 31st December 2016. Justice Saqib Nisar will be chief justice for two years and 17 days. Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa will then assume the charge as chief justice. He will be CJP for 11 months and three days. Justice Atta Muhammad Bandial will become chief justice for one year, seven months and 14 days from 2nd February 2022 till 16th September 2023.
Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany will retire in October 2015, Justice Amir Hani Muslim in April 2017, Justice Ejaz Afzal in May 2018, Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry in December 2015, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed in August 2019, Justice Iqbal Hameed-ur-Rehman in 2021, Justice Mushir Alam in August 2021 and Justice Dost Muhammad Khan in March 2018.