Jawwad S. Khawaja sworn in as chief justice of Pakistan

Islamabad: Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja took oath as the new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday.

He succeeded Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk, who retired on Sunday upon his superannuation.

President Mamnoon Hussain administered the oath of office to Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and chiefs of the army, navy and air force, besides ministers and diplomats.

Justice Khawaja will serve as chief justice for only 23 days as he too is due to retire on September 9. Upon his retirement, Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali will take charge as the seniormost judge of the Supreme Court.

The new chief justice took his oath in Urdu, the national language. He is the first judge in the history of Pakistan whose appointment order was not issued in English.

The summary for the appointment of Justice Khawaja as chief justice was written in Urdu because of an ongoing case being heard by a bench headed by him.

The case is about the promotion of Urdu.

The federal government has assured the court that an order has been issued to make it mandatory for the president, prime minister, federal ministers and other official representatives to deliver their speeches in Urdu both inside the country and abroad.

When the Supreme Court earlier this month upheld the establishment of military courts in the country for speedy trial in terrorism cases, Justice Khawaja was among the six dissenting judges. The dissenters were of the view that the 21st constitutional amendment, which essentially gives legal cover to the military courts, is invalid.

Hailing from Wazirabad in Punjab province, Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja was born on September 10, 1950 and obtained a degree in law from Punjab University. He began his career as a lawyer in 1975.

He remained in legal practice until his appointment as a judge of the Lahore High Court on April 21, 1999. He was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on June 5, 2009.

Justice Khawaja received an LLM from University of Berkeley, California, and also taught at Lahore University of Management Sciences (Lums) until he was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court. He was the first judge to resign in protest from the high court in March 2007 after former president Pervez Musharraf virtually suspended the then chief justice of Pakistan, Chaudhry Iftikhar.