Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Monday administered oath of office to Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, judge of Sindh High Court (SHC) and former jusitce Rehmat Hussain Jaffery as judges of the Supreme Court. On Saturday, President Asif Ali Zardari had elevated two high court judges to the Supreme Court and appointed 11 additional judges in the Peshawar and Balochistan high courts.
Justice Rehmat Hussain Jaffery came into limelight in 2000 when he handed down life sentence to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the plane hijacking case. Although the SHC had upheld the sentence, the Supreme Court quashed the conviction on July 18 this year.
The elevation of judges to the Supreme Court had became necessary after the resignation of two judges, Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar and Justice Javed Buttar, who were facing the prospect of being questioned by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) for taking oath under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO).
With the elevation of two judges, the strength of the Supreme Court has risen to 16, in addition to the Chief Justice. Supreme Court Registrar Dr Faqir Hussain conducted the ceremony, which was attended by the Attorney General, Federal Law Secretary, Secretary of Election Commission, Director General of Federal Judicial Academy.
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