Justice Asif Saeed Khosa was sworn in as the 26th chief justice of Pakistan on Friday.
President Dr Arif Alvi administered the oath to the new chief justice of the country, in a ceremony held at President House, Islamabad.
The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Imran Khan, Senate chairman, National Assembly speaker, members of the federal cabinet, parliamentarians, services chiefs and serving and retired judges of the Supreme Court and lawyers.
Several foreign dignitaries belonging to the law and justice field also attended the ceremony.
Chief Justice Khosa has replaced Chief Justice (retd) Mian Saqib Nisar, whose tenure came to an end with his retirement yesterday.
Khosa, 64, will serve as the chief justice for almost eleven months, and will retire on December 20 this year.
Known as the “poetic justice” for his habit of citing works of literature in his judgements, he is regarded as Pakistan´s top expert in criminal law.
Khosa was a member of the Supreme Court panel that last year overturned the death penalty of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman jailed for blasphemy.
He was also among the judges who disqualified from politics for life former prime minister Nawaz Sharif after corruption allegations in 2017.
In his judgement, he cited the Balzac epigraph from Mario Puzo´s 1969 novel “The Godfather”, which reads: “Behind every great fortune there is a crime.”
