ISLAMABAD: Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rahman on Thursday took oath as the chief justice of Federal Shariat Court.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial administered oath to Mr Rahman at a ceremony which was attended by the judges of the Supreme Court, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan and a large number of lawyers.
Earlier this week, President Dr Arif Alvi approved the appointment of Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rahman as the chief justice of the Islamic court for the period of three years.
An approval was accorded in line with Article 175(A)-13 of the Constitution of Pakistan, the President’s House said.
Justice Iqbal Hameed, who is the former judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, belongs to a family affiliated with the legal fraternity as his father and grandfather were notable jurists of the pre-partition India.
Justice Rahman was born in Dhaka, formerly Dacca, in 1956. He studied LLB from the Punjab University, Law College, Lahore and graduated as a professional lawyer in 1980. The jurist was then enrolled as an advocate High Court in 1983 and an advocate Supreme Court in 1997.
In 1998, Justice Rahman was elected as the Lahore High Court (LHC) Bar Association secretary, and elevated to the post of an additional judge of the high court in 2006. A year later, he was confirmed as a permanent jurist of the LHC.
Following the 18th Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan and the establishment of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), he became the first constitutional chief justice of the IHC on Jan 3, 2011, and later as a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan two years later.
