President Dr Arif Alvi, on Monday, appointed Justice Umar Ata Bandial, the most senior judge of the Supreme Court, as chief justice of Pakistan,.

Justice Bandial would take oath as Chief Justice on February 2, upon the retirement of incumbent CJP Gulzar Ahmed, who would lay down his robe on attaining the age of superannuation on February 1.

According to a notification, issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice: “The President 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.”

Justice Bandial was elevated as 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 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.

This article was first published in Business Recorder on Jan 18, 2022.