Justice Mazhar to take oath as SC judge tomorrow

ISLAMABAD:

Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar – a junior judge of the Sindh High Court – will take oath as Supreme Court judge on Monday (tomorrow).

The apex court judges, Attorney General for Pakistan Khalid Javed Khan and officials from the AGP’s office will participate in the swearing-in ceremony. Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed will administer oath to Justice Mazhar.

On Friday, the Parliamentary Committee on Judges Appointment had approved the elevation of Justice Mazhar by a majority vote.

PPP member Raja Pervez Ashraf endorsed the nomination, while two PML-N lawmakers opposed it and supported the stance of the apex regulatory body of lawyers, the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), on the matter.

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It is learnt that four lawmakers belonging to the government supported the nomination while Ashraf also endorsed his appointment as a top court judge.

However, PML-N lawmakers Azam Nazeer Tarar and Rana Sanaullah opposed the nomination and supported the bar's stance against the elevation of judges to the Supreme Court in violation of the seniority principle.

Sources earlier told The Express Tribune that Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice (retd) Dost Muhammad Khan and PBC representative Akhtar Hussain had opposed the nomination of Justice Mazhar to the apex court on several grounds.