As the retirement of Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed nears, Justice Umar Ata Bandial is expected to take oath as the top judge of the country on Feb 2, reported Aaj News.

The Ministry of Law has prepared a summary for the appointment of Justice Bandial as the next CJP and it has been sent to the President House for approval, according to Aaj News sources.

President Arif Alvi will approve the appointment of Justice Bandial as the chief of Supreme Court followed by a notification issued by the Law Ministry.

Justice Bandial will hold the country's top judgicial post for around 18 months till his retirement which is due on September 18, 2023, reported Geo.

Supreme Court judges, including the chief justice, retire once they reach the age of 65, while high court justices superannuate on reaching 62 years of age under the Constitution, according to the report.

CJP Ahmed, who assumed the office on December 21, 2019 following the retirement of ex-CJP Saqib Nisar, will retire after working in the top judicial position for at least two years.

Following Justice Bandial’s superannuation, Justice Qazi Faez Isa will become the chief justice to serve the office for over one year till October 25, 2024, reported The News.

A brief look at Justice Umar Ata Bandial's career

Born on September 17, 1958 in Lahore, Justice Bandial secured his Law Tripos degree from Cambridge University and qualified as Barrister-at-Law from Lincoln’s Inn.

In 1983, he enrolled as an Advocate of the Lahore High Court followed by an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan few years later.

In his law practice at Lahore Justice Bandial dealt mostly with commercial, banking, tax and property matters. After 1993 till his elevation as Judge of the LHC in 2004, Justice Bandial also handled international commercial disputes.

He declined oath under PCO (provisional constitutional issued by former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf) in November 2007. However, he was restored as an LHC judge after the revival of judiciary and Constitutional rule in the country.

Justice Bandial also served as the LHC chief justice till his elevation as Supreme Court of Pakistan judge in June 2014.

During his career Justice Bandial rendered judgments on a number of important public law and private law issues, pronouncements on civil and commercial disputes, Constitutional rights and public interest matters.

Justice Bandial has also attended: a seminar on International Criminal Law at Hague in 2012; the Commonwealth Regional Consultative Meeting on Judicial Services Commission Model Law Kuala Lumpur in 2015; and the 13th Conference of Presidents of Supreme Courts of SCO Member States at Beijing in 2018.