20000205

CJ administers collective oath to new judges of Supreme Court

RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: The recently appointed five new judges to the Supreme Court were on Friday inducted into their offices by Chief Justice Irshad Hassan Khan who administered a collective oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO).

The judges were: Justice Rashed Aziz Khan, Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui, Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary, Justice Qazi Mohammad Farooq and Justice Rana Baghwandas.

They swore to abide by the Proclamation of Emergency and the PCO No:1 of 1999 and the code of conduct laid down for the judges by the Supreme Judicial Council and to dispense justice without "fear or favour".

Justices Khan, Siddiqui and Chaudhary were the reigning Chief Justices of the High Courts at Lahore, Sindh and Balochistan while Justice Rana Baghwandas was the senior puisne judge of the Sindh High Court.

Justice Qazi Mohammad Farooq had retired as Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court about a month ago and officials said the law minister will have to take steps to bridge the gap in his service.

The swearing-in ceremony followed by a formal reception by the Chief Justice for his new colleagues, was attended by the judges of the Supreme Court and Federal Shariat Court, Lahore High Court's Rawalpindi bench and officials of the Bar Council and bar associations of the LHC and the Supreme Court.

Immediately after wards the new judges returned to the newly formed benches to open hearing into the pending cases.

The Chief Justice is expected to revise the seniority list of the judges within the next few days.