Justice Gulzar Ahmed on Saturday took oath as the 27th Chief Justice of Pakistan. President Dr Arif Alvi administered the oath to Justice Gulzar Ahmed at a ceremony at the Presidency in Islamabad.
The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Imran Khan, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, members of the federal cabinet, parliamentarians, services chiefs, serving and retired judges of the Supreme Court and lawyers.
Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed replaces chief justice (r) Asif Saeed Khosa, whose tenure came to an end with his retirement on Friday after serving as the country’s top judge.
New CJP Justice Gulzar Ahmed will continue to serve until February 21, 2022.
On December 4, the Law Ministry notified the appointment of Justice Gulzar Ahmed as the new chief justice of Pakistan.
The notification stated, “In exercise of the powers conferred by Clause (3) of Article 175 A, read with Article 177 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the President is pleased to appoint Mr Justice Gulzar Ahmed, the most senior judge of the Supreme Court, as Chief Justice of Pakistan with effect from December 21, 2019.”
Born on February 2, 1957, in Karachi, Justice Gilzar Ahmed received his early education from Gulistan School, Karachi and obtained BA degree from Government National College, Karachi and LLB degree from SM Law College, Karachi.
He enrolled as an advocate on January 18, 1986, as an advocate of the high court on April 4, 1988, and then as an advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on September 15, 2001.
He was elected as honorary secretary of the Sindh High Court Bar Association, Karachi, for the year 1999-2000.
Throughout his legal practice, Justice Gulzar Ahmed mainly practiced on the civil corporate side and remained a legal adviser to various multinational and local companies, banks and financial institutions.