# Chief Justice of Pakistan

The chief justice of Pakistan (initials as CJP; Urdu: منصفِ اعظم پاکستان, Munsif-e-Āzam Pākistān) is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and is the highest-ranking officer of the Pakistani judiciary.
The Federal Court of Pakistan was established by Governor-General Jinnah's Order in February 1948. Until 1956, the chief justice and senior justices were known by the title of 'Federal Judge', and the Federal Court of Pakistan operated out of a wing of the Lahore High Court, despite the federal capital's location in Karachi. The enactment of Pakistan's first constitution in March 1956 redesigned it as the 'Supreme Court of Pakistan.'
The chief justice is the chief administrative officer of the country's court system and the highest judicial officer, ranking immediately above the chief justice of the Federal Shariat Court. He is responsible for supervising federal judicial policies, and conducting judicial business in the Supreme Court.
Nomination for the appointment of the chief justice is made by the prime minister of Pakistan, and final appointments are confirmed by the president of Pakistan. Chief Justice of Pakistan is recommended by Special Parliamentary Committee consisting of 8 members of National Assembly and 4 members of Senate.He is selected by amongst 3 senior most justices of Supreme Court by two third majiority of total membership of Committee. Committee sends nomination of selected justice to Prime Minister and Prime Minister advises President of Pakistan to appoint that justice as Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Before 26th Amendment to the Constitution 2024. Senior most judge of Supreme Court was appointed as Chief Justice by President on advice of Prime Minister.
Presiding over the oral arguments before the court, the chief justice has significant agenda-setting power over meetings of the Supreme Court. In modern tradition, the chief justice has the ceremonial duty of administering the oath of office of the president of Pakistan.
The first chief justice was Sir Abdul Rashid. The current chief justice is Yahya Afridi, incumbent since 26 October 2024.

## List of chief justices

Pakistan's longest-serving chief justice was Mohammad Haleem for total of 3,205 days. The shortest-serving chief justice was Muhammad Shahabuddin. Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is the only justice to have served non-consecutive terms, for a total of three terms with total of 2,480 days.
| Number | Name | Period of office | Period of office | Length of term (years, days) | Bar | Appointed by |
| 1 | Sir Mian Abdul Rashid | 27 June 1949 | 29 June 1954 | 5 years, 0 days | Lahore High Court | Government of India Act 1935 |
| 2 | Muhammad Munir | 29 June 1954 | 2 May 1960 | 5 years, 308 days | Lahore High Court | Malik Ghulam Muhammad |
| 3 | Muhammad Shahabuddin$^†$ | 3 May 1960 | 12 May 1960 | 9 days | Madras High Court | Ayub Khan |
| 4 | A.R. Cornelius | 13 May 1960 | 29 February 1968 | 7 years, 292 days | Lahore High Court | Ayub Khan |
| 5 | S.A. Rahman | 1 March 1968 | 3 June 1968 | 94 days | Lahore High Court | Ayub Khan |
| 6 | Fazal Akbar | 4 June 1968 | 17 November 1968 | 166 days | East Pakistan High Court | Ayub Khan |
| 7 | Hamoodur Rahman$^†$ | 18 November 1968 | 31 October 1975 | 6 years, 347 days | Calcutta High Court | Ayub Khan |
| 8 | Yaqub Ali | 1 November 1975 | 22 September 1977 | 1 year, 325 days | Lahore High Court | Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry |
| 9 | Sheikh Anwarul Haq | 23 September 1977 | 25 March 1981 | 3 years, 183 days | Lahore High Court | Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry |
| 10 | Mohammad Haleem | 23 March 1981 | 31 December 1989 | 8 years, 283 days | Sindh High Court | Zia-ul-Haq |
| 11 | Afzal Zullah | 1 January 1990 | 18 April 1993 | 3 years, 107 days | Lahore High Court | Ghulam Ishaq Khan |
| 12 | Nasim Hasan Shah | 17 April 1993 | 14 April 1994 | 362 days | Lahore High Court | Ghulam Ishaq Khan |
| 13 | Syed Sajjad Ali Shah | 5 June 1994 | 2 December 1997 | 3 years, 180 days | Sindh High Court | Farooq Leghari |
| 14 | Ajmal Mian | 27 December 1997 | 30 June 1999 | 1 year, 185 days | Sindh High Court | Wasim Sajjad |
| 15 | Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui | 1 July 1999 | 26 January 2000 | 209 days | Sindh High Court | Rafiq Tarar |
| 16 | Irshad Hasan Khan | 26 January 2000 | 6 January 2002 | 1 year, 345 days | Lahore High Court | Rafiq Tarar |
| 17 | Bashir Jehangiri | 7 January 2002 | 31 January 2002 | 24 days | Peshawar High Court | Pervez Musharraf |
| 18 | Sheikh Riaz Ahmad | 1 February 2002 | 31 December 2003 | 1 year, 333 days | Lahore High Court | Pervez Musharraf |
| 19 | Nazim Hussain Siddiqui | 31 December 2003 | 29 June 2005 | 1 year, 180 days | Sindh High Court | Pervez Musharraf |
| 20 | Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry (1st) | 29 June 2005 | 9 March 2007 | 1 year, 253 days | Balochistan High Court | Pervez Musharraf |
| A | Javaid Iqbal | 9 March 2007 | 24 March 2007 | 15 days | Balochistan High Court | Pervez Musharraf |
| A | Rana Bhagwandas | 25 March 2007 | 20 July 2007 | 87 days | Sindh High Court | Pervez Musharraf |
| 20 | Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry (2nd) | 20 July 2007 | 3 November 2007 | 136 days | Balochistan High Court | Pervez Musharraf |
| ± | A. H. Dogar | 3 November 2007 | 21 March 2009 | 1 year, 138 days | Sindh High Court | Pervez Musharraf |
| 20 | Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry (3rd) | 21 March 2009 | 11 December 2013 | 4 years, 265 days | Balochistan High Court | Asif Ali Zardari |
| 21 | Tassaduq Hussain Jillani | 12 December 2013 | 6 July 2014 | 176 days | Lahore High Court | Mamnoon Hussain |
| 22 | Nasir-ul-Mulk | 7 July 2014 | 16 August 2015 | 1 year, 70 days | Peshawar High Court | Mamnoon Hussain |
| 23 | Jawwad S. Khawaja | 17 August 2015 | 9 September 2015 | 23 days | Lahore High Court | Mamnoon Hussain |
| 24 | Anwar Zaheer Jamali | 10 September 2015 | 30 December 2016 | 1 year, 111 days | Sindh High Court | Mamnoon Hussain |
| 25 | Mian Saqib Nisar | 31 December 2016 | 17 January 2019 | 2 years, 17 days | Lahore High Court | Mamnoon Hussain |
| 26 | Asif Saeed Khan Khosa | 18 January 2019 | 20 December 2019 | 336 days | Lahore High Court | Arif Alvi |
| 27 | Gulzar Ahmed | 21 December 2019 | 1 February 2022 | 2 years, 42 days | Sindh High Court | Arif Alvi |
| 28 | Umar Ata Bandial | 2 February 2022 | 16 September 2023 | 1 year, 226 days | Lahore High Court | Arif Alvi |
| 29 | Qazi Faez Isa | 17 September 2023 | 25 October 2024 | 1 year, 38 days | Balochistan High Court | Arif Alvi |
| 30 | Yahya Afridi | 26 October 2024 | Incumbent | 3 years, 0 days | Peshawar High Court | Asif Ali Zardari |
* A Acting
* ± Recess appointment, later rejected by the Supreme Judicial Council. All decisions voided due to illegality of appointment.
* † Died in office