The Special Parliamentary Committee has selected Supreme Court judge Justice Yahya Afridi to become the next Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP). If approved by President Asif Ali Zardari, Justice Afridi will serve a three-year term as CJP.
Born on January 23, 1965, in Dera Ghazi Khan, Justice Afridi pursued his early education at Aitchison College, Lahore, and later graduated from Government College, Lahore. He earned his LLM from Jesus College, Cambridge University, before beginning his legal practice in 1990. He joined the Supreme Court bar in 2004.
In 2010, Afridi was appointed an additional judge of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) and became a permanent judge in 2012. He made history in 2016 as the first judge from the federally administered tribal areas to take on the role of PHC Chief Justice.
Justice Afridi’s move to the Supreme Court came in 2018, where he has been involved in prominent cases, including the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto presidential reference. Notably, he has delivered dissenting opinions in several key cases.
At 59 years old, Justice Afridi would serve as CJP until he reaches the retirement age of 62, marking the final three years of his judicial career.