Courtesy PID
The Karachi-born judge will head the Supreme Court till February 2022
Justice Gulzar Ahmed on Saturday took oath as the 27th Chief Justice of Pakistan, taking the reins of the judiciary from Asif Saeed Khosa, whose tenure ended at midnight on Dec. 20.
President Arif Alvi administered the oath of office to Justice Gulzar during a ceremony at the Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad. The ceremony was also attended by Prime Minister Imran Khan, members of the federal cabinet, First Lady Samina Alvi, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, the governors of Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, services chiefs, chief justices of provincial high courts, federal ombudspersons, former chief justices and senior members of the legal fraternity.
The ceremony commenced with a recitation of the holy Quran, after which the oath of office was administered and the prime minister and president congratulated the new Chief Justice on his post.
Justice Gulzar replaced Justice Khosa, who served as Pakistan’s top judge for approximately 11 months, during which the court deliberated on several important cases, including the high treason trial of former Army chief Pervez Musharraf, and the legal lacunae concerning an extension to the tenure of incumbent Army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa.
Justice Gulzar would retire in February 2022, giving him over two years at the head of the apex court, and would be replaced by Justice Mushir Alam, who is the next senior-most judge.
Born in Karachi on Feb. 2, 1957, Justice Gulzar was educated at the Sindh capital’s Gulistan School. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree from Government National College, Karachi, and his LLB from SM Law College, Karachi.
Justice Gulzar enrolled as an advocate of the Sindh High Court in 1988. He was elected the honorary secretary of the Sindh High Court Bar Association from 1999 to 2000. He enrolled as advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 2001.
On Aug. 27, 2002, Justice Gulzar was elevated as judge of the Sindh High Court. On Nov. 16, 2011, he was elevated as judge of the Supreme Court.
Prior to assuming charge as the 27th Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Gulzar served as acting Chief Justice of Pakistan from Nov. 20– 28, 2018, and again from May 13–17, 2019.