According to the sources, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) has approved an appointment of Justice S.M. Atiq Shah as the new Chief Justice in the Peshawar High Court (PHC).
A majority of 6-5 voted in favor of this decision with Chief Justice Yahya Afridi voting with Justice Shah, who happens to be the second-seniormost judge in PHC. He was appointed amid other competitors such as Justice Ejaz Anwar and Justice Arshad Ali.
Nevertheless, Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Munib Akhtar registered dissent in the appointment, on part of KP Law Minister and two JCP members put in place by PTI, because it should have focused on the 26 th Constitutional Amendment.
This nomination of Justice Shah passed because of the majority vote notwithstanding the objections. An official announcement and taking of the oath shall be through by mid July.
Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim’s elevation to the Supreme Court opened the PHC Chief Justice position. In the 10 months in his tenure, PHC disposed a 113 percent of cases that is 23,317 cases against 20,438 new filing cases.
Appointed a judge on an ad-hoc basis of PHC in 2016, promoted as Chief Justice in April 2024, Justice Ibrahim adjudicated in 19,800 cases on his career.
His reforms had special inheritance courts, online proceedings, category cases, abolition of summer vacations, and better security of judges.
He significantly improved the judicial system’s effectiveness and strengthened coordination between the courts and bar associations.
