Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Wednesday took oath as the Chief Justice of Pakistan in a ceremony held at Aiwan-i-Sadr in Islamabad. President Dr Arif Alvi administered the oath.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, Leader of the House in Senate Shahzad Waseem, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry and various ministers attended the oath-taking ceremony.

Members of the legal fraternity were also in attendance.

Justice Bandial will serve in the top judicial office until Sept 16, 2023.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by Clause 3 of Article 175A read with Article 177 of the Constitution, the president of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is pleased to appoint Justice Umar Ata Bandial, the most senior judge of the Supreme Court, as the Chief Justice of Pakistan with effect from Feb 2, 2022,” read the notification issued by President Dr Arif Alvi on January 17.

'Diversity brings richness to our understanding'

Justice Bandial on Tuesday addressed the full court reference held on Tuesday on the eve of Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed’s retirement, who laid down his robes on attaining the age of superannuation.

“This diversity brings richness to our understanding. That is how yesterday’s minority view may become tomorrow’s majority judgment. But we are surprised that some observers who discharge a noble duty as watchful media, particularly members of the social media, take it upon themselves to scandalise judges rather than focusing on the criticism of their judgments,” he said.

He stated that such conduct was "unprofessional and uncivilised" apart from being unconstitutional.

In the backdrop of criticism of judges after the announcement of Supreme Court on Justice Qazi Faez Isa’s petition, he said; “All of us have deep respect and regard for each other. The differences in our opinions in matters of law arise from our individual perceptions.”

Justice Umar Ata Bandial

Justice Bandial was elevated as a judge of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on December 4, 2004.

He declined oath under PCO in November 2007 but was restored as a judge of the LHC as a result of the movement of lawyers and civil society for the revival of the judiciary and constitutional rule in the country.

Later, he served for two years as the chief justice LHC until his elevation as a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in June 2014.

During his career as a judge of the LHC and the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Justice Bandial has rendered judgments on a number of important public law and private law issues.

These include pronouncements on civil and commercial disputes, Constitutional rights and matters of public interest.

He secured his BA (Economics) degree from Columbia University, USA followed by a Law Tripos degree from Cambridge University, UK and qualified as Barrister-at-Law from Lincoln’s Inn, London.

In 1983, he was enrolled as an advocate of the LHC and some years later, as an advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.