ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday approved the appointment of Supreme Court’s (SC) senior-most judge Asif Saeed Khosa as the next chief justice of Pakistan (CJP).
CJP Mian Saqib Nisar will be retiring from service on January 17. Justice Khosa will take the charge on January 18 and serve as the top judge until December 20, 2019.
A notification of the Ministry of Law and Justice said, “In exercise of powers conferred by clause (3) of Article 175 A read with Article 177 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the president is pleased to appoint Mr Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, the most senior judge of Supreme Court, as chief justice of Pakistan with effect from 18.01.2019.”
The Law Ministry had earlier sent a recommendation of the appointment to the president.
Justice Asif Saeed Khosa was born in Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab on December 21, 1954. He received his early education in his city of origin. He attained his Bachelor’s degree in Arts from the Government College University (GCU), Lahore. He proceeded to earn his Master’s degree in English from the University of Punjab and became a lawyer after completing his education in law from the UK in 1976.
He has served as a Supreme Court judge since February 18, 2010. He was the chief justice from June 5, 2017, to June 11, 2017, June 29, 2017, to July 05, 2017, May 14, 2018, to May 30, 2018, and December 17, 2018, to December 23, 2018. Justice Khosa has decided about 55,000 cases over a period of more than 13 years so far.
Justice Khosa was a judge of the Lahore High Court prior to that. Before becoming a judge, he was an advocate of the Supreme Court Bar Association and Lahore High Court Bar Association.
