List of justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan explained

The Supreme Court of Pakistan is the highest and apex court in the judicial hierarchy of Pakistan.^[1] Its judicial membership currently composed of the Chief Justice of Pakistan and fifteen senior justices, also consisting the ad hoc appointments of the Shariat Appellate.^[2] Advisement for nomination and necessary consultation from the Prime Minister of Pakistan, the President of Pakistan appointed the justices.^[3] ^[4] ^[5]

The Supreme Court was restructured in its modern form in 1956 by the Part VIII of the Constitution, which stipulates that the "judicial power of Pakistan, shall be vested in one supreme Court" together with any lower courts Congress may establish.^[6] Article 185(1) further specified the Court's original and appellate jurisdiction, created four judicial high courts, and a system of entering an appeal against punishment rendered by the high courts.^[7] The Constitution allows the Parliament to determine the fixed number of the justices, or in special cases such as when the parliamentary recess, the Constitution allows a constitutional right to fix the number of the judges.^[8]

Justices of the Supreme Court serve in the office until they attain the age of sixty-five years, unless they resign sooner or are removed from the office in accordance with the Constitution.^[9] This article focuses on the appointed justices of the Supreme Court from 1947 to the present.

List of justices

Senior justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan from 1947–present
Listed senior justices	Previous high courts	Active service tenured dates (dd//mm//yyyy)	Appointed by	Termination due	Notes
		27 Jun 1949–29 Jun 1954		Retired	1st Chief Justice of Pakistan
Abdul Rehman		7 Feb 1950–4 Oct 1953		Retired
		15 Feb 1950–27 Feb 1956		Retired
Muhammad Sharif		17 May 1950 – 23 May 1950 13 Apr 1954–1 Apr 1958		Retired	Appointment as Acting Judge
		1 Oct 1951–2 May 1960		Retired	Appointed 2nd Chief Justice of Pakistan
		6 Oct 1952–23 Dec 1952 6 Feb 1953–7 Jun 1953 4 Oct 1953–12 May 1960		Retired	Appointed 3rd Chief Justice of Pakistan
		22 Nov 1951–9 Jun 1952 17 Oct 1952–31 May 1953 10 Oct 1953–29 Feb 1968		Retired	Appointed 4th Chief Justice of Pakistan
		2 Mar 1955–23 May 1955 2 Apr 1958–3 Jun 1968		Retired	Appointed 5th Chief Justice of Pakistan
Amiruddin Ahmad		12 Mar 1956–21 Dec 1960		Retired
		18 May 1960–17 Nov 1968		Retired	Appointed 6th Chief Justice of Pakistan
Badi-uz-Zaman Kaikaus		25 Jul 1960–3 Jan 1966		Retired
		22 Dec 1960–31 Dec 1971 31 Dec 1971–31 Oct 1975		Death	Appointed 7th Chief Justice of Pakistan
		4 Jan 1966–22 Sept 1977		Retired	Appointed 8th Chief Justice of Pakistan
Sajjad Ahmad Jan		18 Mar 1968–31 Mar 1973		Retired	Appointed Chief election commissioner in 1977
		4 Jun 1968–28 Feb 1971		Retired	Appointed Chief election commissioner in 1970
Mujibur Rahman Khan		18 Nov 1968–23 Nov 1971		Retired
Waheeduddin Ahmad		22 Sept 1969–20 Sept 1974 23 May 1977 – 6 Feb 1979		Retired	Appointment as Ad hoc Justice
		4 Dec 1970–28 Feb 1971 1 Mar 1971–31 Dec 1976		Retired
		16 Oct 1972–25 Mar 1981		Retired	Appointed 9th Chief Justice of Pakistan
Muhammad Gul		14 Apr 1973–31 Dec 1976		Retired
Mohammad Afzal Cheema	Lahore HC	8 Oct 1974–31 Dec 1977		Retired
	Sindh HC	8 Oct 1974–23 Jan 1975 1 Jul 1979–24 Mar 1991		Retired
Malik Muhammad Akram		26 Dec 1975–1 Oct 1979		Retired
		7 Jan 1976–25 Mar 1981	Chaudhry	PCO 1981	Seek Retirement after 1981 PCO
	Sindh HC	7 Jan 1977–31 Dec 1989		Retired	Appointed 10th Chief Justice of Pakistan
Qaisar Khan	Quetta HC	7 Jan 1977–30 July 1978		Retired
Ghulam Safdar Shah	G.S. Shah		10 Oct 1977–16 Oct 1980		Retired
Karam Illahi Chauhan	Karam Chauhan		27 Apr 1978–13 Jun 1979 14 Jun 1979–4 Feb 1982	Chaudhry Zia-ul-Haq	Retired	Appointment as Ad hoc Justice Oath after 1981 PCO
Aslam Riaz Hussain		12 Jan 1978–23 Aug 1988	Chaudhry	Retired	Served as acting Chief Justice of Pakistan on many occasions from 1979 to 1988.
		14 Jun 1979–18 Apr 1993		Retired	Appointed 11th Chief Justice of Pakistan
		18 May 1977–14 Jun 1979 14 Jun 1979–14 Apr 1994	Chaudhry Zia-ul-Haq	Retired	Appointed 12th Chief Justice of Pakistan
Shafi-ur-Rahman	Lahore HC	14 Jun 1979–29 Jul 1981 31 Jul 1981 –15 Feb 1994	Chaudhry Zia-ul-Haq	Retired
		2 Jun 1980–25 Mar 1981	Zia-ul-Haq	Retired	Appointment as Ad hoc Justice Asked to retired
	Sindh HC	17 Jun 1980–25 Mar 1981	Zia-ul-Haq	PCO 1981	Seek Retirement after 1981 PCO
		5 Apr 1981–1 Jul 1982	Zia-ul-Haq	Retired
S.A. Nusrat		4 Aug 1981–30 Apr 1989	Zia-ul-Haq	Retired
		4 Aug 1981–9 Oct 1991	Zia-ul-Haq	Retired
M.S.H. Quraishi	Quetta HC	30 July 1981–30 Sept 1985	Zia-ul-Haq	Retired	Appointment as Ad hoc Justice
Mian Burhanuddin Khan	Burhanuddin Khan		2 Mar 1982–17 Dec 1987	Zia-ul-Haq	Retired	Appointment as acting Justice
Ali Hussain Qazilbash	A.H. Qazilbash		17 Apr 1986–14 Sept 1991	Zia-ul-Haq	Retired	Appointment as acting Justice
		5 Oct 1986–4 Oct 1989	Zia-ul-Haq	Retired
Saad Saood Jan	S.S. Jan	Quetta HC	5 Oct 1986–30 Jun 1996	Zia-ul-Haq	Retired	Appointment as Ad hoc Justice
Ghulam Mujadid Mirza	G.M. Mirza		25 Mar 1987–31 Mar 1990	Zia-ul-Haq	Retired
S. Usman Ali Shah	S.U.A. Shah		8 Dec 1987–1 Sept 1988	Zia-ul-Haq	Retired	Appointment as Ad hoc Justice
Naimuddin	Quetta HC	4 Sept 1988–9 Nov 1991		Retired
Abdul Shakurul Salam	A.S. Salam		13 Dec 1988–31 Mar 1993		Retired
Abdul Qadeer Chaudhry	A.Q. Chaudhry	Lahore HC	13 Dec 1989–12 Jul 1994		Retired
		13 Dec 1989–30 Jul 1999		Retired	Appointed 14th Chief Justice of Pakistan
Rustam S. Sidwa	R.S. Sidwa		13 Dec 1989–31 Aug 1992		Retired
Abdul Hafeez Memon	A.H. Memon		14 Dec 1989–8 Oct 1990		Retired	Appointment as acting Justice
		13 Aug 1990–3 July 1993		Retired
	Sindh HC	5 Nov 1990–16 Feb 1998		Retired	Appointed 13th Chief Justice of Pakistan
		17 Jan 1991–1 Nov 1994		Retired	Elevated as President of Pakistan
Saleem Akhter		25 Mar 1991–22 Mar 1997		Retired
Wali Muhammad Khan	Wali Moh'd Khan	Peshawar HC	28 Oct 1991–31 Oct 1994		Retired	Appointment as acting Justice
	Sindh HC	21 May 1992–26 Jan 2000		PCO 2000	Appointed 15th Chief Justice of Pakistan
Fazal Illahi Khan	F.I. Khan	Peshawar HC	3 April 1993–31 Dec 1997		Retired
Manzoor Hussain Sial	M.H. Sial		7 Jun 1993–17 Oct 1994 19 Oct 1994–20 Apr 1997		Retired	Appointment as acting Justice
Fazal Karim		7 Oct 1994–31 Jul 1996	Chaudry		Retired	Appointment as acting Justice
Muhammad Munir Khan	Munir Khan		7 Aug 1994–6 Aug 1996		Retired	Appointment as acting Justice
Muhammad Ilyhas		19 Oct 1994–30 Sept 1996		Retired	Appointment as acting Justice
		30 Sept 1994–29 Sept 1996		Retired	Elevated as Prime Minister (2013)
Mamoon Kazi		22 Feb 1995–26 Jan 2000		Retired
Mukhtar Ahmed Junejo		19 Oct 1995–19 Feb 2000		Retired
Raja Afrasiab Khan	Afrasiab Khan		22 Feb 1995–14 Jan 2000		Retired
		18 Apr 1996–26 Jan 2000		Retired	Appointment as Ad-hoc Justice
Munawar Ahmed Mirza	Munavar Mirza	Sindh HC	17 Nov 1996–24 Nov 1999		Retired
Khalil-ur-Rehman Khan	Khalil-ur-Rehman		17 Dec 1996–26 Jan 2000		Retired
		29 May 1997–15 Jun 2000		Retired
		4 Nov 1997–31 Dec 2003		Retired	Appointed 18th Chief Justice of Pakistan
		5 May 1998–26 Jan 2000		Retired
		4 Nov 1998–6 Jan 2002		Retired	Appointed 16th Chief Justice of Pakistan
		4 Nov 1998–31 Jan 2002		Retired	Appointed 17th Chief Justice of Pakistan
Rashid Aziz Khan	Rashid Khan		24 Apr 1999–26 Jan 2000		Retired
Abdul Rehman Khan	Abdur Rehman Khan		4 Nov 1998–5 Sept 2001		Retired	Appointed Acting Chief Justice of Pakistan (Brief Period)
Muhammad Arif		4 Nov 1998–2 Jan 2002		Retired
Kamal Mansur Alam	Kamal Allam		22 Apr 1999–26 Jan 2000		Retired
		4 Feb 2000–29 Jun 2005		Retired	Appointed 19th Chief Justice of Pakistan
		4 Feb 2000–31 Dec 2003		Retired
T.A. Khan		27 Feb 2000–16 Jan 2004		Retired
Mian Muhammad Ajmal	M.M. Ajmal		28 Apr 2000–14 Aug 2004		Retired
Syed Deedar Hussian Shah	Deedar Hussian		28 Apr 2000–10 Dec 2004		Retired
		28 Apr 2000–14 Sept 2004 14 Sept 2004–13 Sept 2005		Retired	Appointed Chief Election Commissioner
Karamat Nazir Bhandari	K.N. Bhandari	Quetta HC	7 Sept 2000–13 Sept 2006		Retired	Appointment as Ad-hoc Justice
	Quetta HC	4 Feb 2000–11 Dec 2013		Retired	Appointed 20th Chief Justice
		4 Feb 2000–19 Dec 2008		2007 PCO
		28 Apr 2000–24 Mar 2011		Retired
		28 Apr 2000–21 Mar 2009		Retired
		10 Jan 2002– 09 Feb 2010		Retired
		10 Jan 2002–13 Jan 2010		Retired
		10 Jan 2002–6 Jan 2008		Retired
Faqir Muhammad		10 Jan 2002–5 Aug 2008		Retired
		7 Sept 2002–21 Sept 2008		Retired
		29 Jul 2004– 17 Aug 2012		Retired
		29 Jul 2004–5 Aug 2009		Retired
		12 December 2003 – 5 July 2014		Retired	Appointed 21st Chief Justice (2014)
Saiyed Saeed Ashhad	S.S. Ashad		5 Apr 2005–7 Oct 2008		Retired		-
		5 Apr 2005–17 Aug 2015		Retired	Appointed 22nd Chief Justice and Elevated as Prime Minister of Pakistan
		14 Sept 2005–13 Jan 2012		Retired		-
		14 Sept 2005–13 Jan 2013		Retired
Syed Jamshed Ali	Jamshed Ali		14 Sept 2005–30 Sept 2008		Retired
Ghulam Rabbani		14 Sept 2006–30 Sept 2008 12 Apr 2009–5 Nov 2013		Retired	Appointment as ad-hoc Justice
Muhammad Qaim Jan Khan	Qaim Jan		6 Nov 2007–31 Jul 2009		Retired
Ijaz-ul-Hassan		6 Nov 2007–31 Jul 2009		Retired
		12 Apr 2009– 25 Feb 2011		Retired
		12 Apr 2009–09 Dec 2011		Retired
M.A. Shahid Siddiqui		12 Apr 2009– 13 Oct 2011		Retired
Jawwad S. Khawaja		4 Jun 2009–19 Oct 2015		Retired	Appointed 23rd Chief Justice
		3 Aug 2009–30 Dec 2016		Retired	Appointed 24th Chief Justice
Khilji Arif Hussain	Arif Hussain		7 Sept 2009–4 Apr 2014		Retired
Rehmat Hussain Jaffery		7 Sept 2009–4 Apr 2014		Retired
		21 Oct 2009– 13 Feb 2013		Retired	Appointed Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
		18 Feb 2010– 17 Jan 2019		Retired	Appointed 25th Chief Justice
		18 Feb 2010–20 Dec 2019		Retired	Appointed 26th Chief Justice
		18 Feb 2010–24 May 2022		Retired
Amir Hani Muslim		14 Feb 2011–4 Jan 2017		Retired
Muhammad Athar Saeed		15 Nov 2011–28 Sep 2014		Retired
		17 Nov 2011 – 15 Dec 2015		Retired
	Quetta HC	17 Nov 2011 – 28 Sept 2014		Retired	Appointed 27th Chief Justice
		6 Jan 2012 – 27 Aug 2019		Retired
Iqbal Hameed-ur-Rahman		25 Feb 2013 – 25 Sept 2022		Retired
Mushir Alam		20 Sept 2013 – 18 Aug 2021		Retired
		20 Sept 2013 – 16 Sep 2022		Retired	Appointed 28th Chief Justice^[10]
Qazi Faez Isa		5 Sep 2014 – 25 Oct 2024		Active Service	Chief Justice of Pakistan^[11]
Maqbool Baqar		17 Feb 2015 – 4 Apr 2022		Retired
		6 Nov 2015 – 30 Apr 2021		Retired
Sardar Tariq Masood		6 Nov 2015 – 10 March 2024		Retired
		13 Dec 2015 – 4 Nov 2020		Retired
Ijazul Ahsan		28 Jun 2016 – 11 Jan 2024	Hussain	Resigned	resigned.
		30 Dec 2016 – 13 Jul 2022		Retired
		15 Mar 2017 – 13 Aug 2022		Retired
		7 Feb 2018 – 27 Nov 2027	Hussain	Active Service	To become 30th Chief Justice
		8 May 2018 – 13 Dec 2028		Active service	To become 31st Chief Justice
		28 Jun 2018 – 22 Jan 2030		Active service	To become 32nd Chief Justice
Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed		24 Apr 2019 – 25 Mar 2022		Retired
		21 Oct 2019 – 30 Nov 2025		Active Service
		16 Mar 2020 – 10 Jan 2024 (removed)		Resigned^[12] will be considered as a removed Judge^[13]	A reference was being heard against him in the Supreme Judicial Council on allegations of (financial) misconduct, before the SJC came to a conclusion, he resigned. The SJC has decided to continue hearing the reference despite his resignation.^[14] On 7 March 2024, the Supreme Judicial Council of Pakistan opinioned that Naqvi was guilty of misconduct and should have been removed as a Judge.^[15]
		9 Aug 2021 – 11 Nov 2026		Active Service
		16 Aug 2021 – 04 Oct 2029		Active Service
		6 Jan 2022 – 2 Jun 2031		Active Service	To become 33rd Chief Justice
Athar Minallah	Islamabad HC	11 Nov 2022 – 12 Dec 2026	Alvi	Active Service
Hasan Azhar Rizvi	Sindh HC	11 Nov 2022 – 1 Feb 2027	Alvi	Active Service
Shahid Waheed	Lahore HC	11 Nov 2022 – 24 Dec 2031	Alvi	Active Service	To become 34th Chief Justice
Musarrat Hilali	Peshawar HC	7 Jul 2023 – 08 Aug 2025	Alvi	Active Service
Irfan Saadat Khan	Sindh HC	3 Sept 2023 – 07 Feb 2027	Alvi	Active Service
Naeem Akhtar Afghan	Balochistan HC	11 Mar 2024 – 28 Jun 2028	Alvi	Active Service
Malik Shehzad Ahmed Khan	Lahore HC	7 June 2024 – 07 Feb 2027	Zardari	Active Service
Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi	Sindh HC	7 June 2024 – 07 Feb 2027	Zardari	Active Service
Shahid Bilal Hassan	Lahore HC	7 June 2024 – 12 March 2029	Zardari	Active Service

Appointments after 2001 state emergency

Senior justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan after 2007
Listed senior justices	Previous high courts	Active service tenured dates (dd//mm//yyyy)	Appointed by	Termination	Notes
Musa Leghari		6 Nov 2007–31 Jul 2009		Void
Ejaz Yousaf		6 Nov 2007–31 Jul 2009		Void
Akhtar Shabbir		13 Nov 2007–8 Jun 2009		Void
Zia Pervez		13 Nov 2007–31 Jul 2009		Void
Hamid Farooq		10 Dec 2007–31 Jul 2009		Void
Syed Sakhi Hussain Bokhari		10 Dec 2007–31 Jul 2009		Void
Syed Zawwar Hussain Jaffery	Zawvar Jaffery		10 Dec 2007–31 Jul 2009		Void
Syed Sakhi Hussain Bokhari		10 Dec 2007–31 Jul 2009		Void
Sheikh Hakim Ali		8 Feb 2008–31 Jul 2009		Void
Muhammad Furrukh Mahmud		8 Feb 2008–31 Jul 2009		Void
Sabihuddin Ahmed		19 Sept 2008–9 Apr 2009		Death
		7 Mar 2008–31 Jul 2009		Void

External links

Supreme Court of Pakistan

Notes and References

[Constitution of Pakistan|Article 176(1)]
Web site: Hon'ble Judges . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170201231827/http://www.supremecourt.gov.pk/web/page.asp?id=205 . 1 February 2017 . 4 January 2014 . Govt. Pakistan . Supreme Court of Pakistan, Press release.
Web site: ARTICLE 175 (A) APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES . 4 January 2014 . Govt. Pakistan . Supreme Court of Pakistan Press.
Web site: 2011-11-15 . President appoints judges of Supreme Court, Islamabad High Court . 2022-11-12 . . en . Associated Press of Pakistan.
Web site: 2013-04-11 . Lahore High Court: President appoints six additional judges . 2022-11-12 . . en.
[Constitution of Pakistan|Article 184(1)]
[Constitution of Pakistan|Article 185(1)]
[Constitution of Pakistan|Article 176]
[Constitution of Pakistan|Article 179(a)]
Web site: 2022-02-02 . Justice Umar Ata Bandial sworn in as 28th Chief Justice of Pakistan . 2022-11-12 . . en.
Web site: Justice Qazi Faez Isa sworn in as 29th chief justice of Pakistan . 17 September 2023 . 12 January 2024.
News: President Alvi accepts resignation of SC's Justice Naqvi . 12 January 2024.
Web site: Bhatti . Haseeb . 2024-03-07 . Ex-SC judge Mazahar Naqvi 'guilty of misconduct', should've been sacked: Supreme Judicial Council . 2024-03-07 . DAWN.COM . en.
News: Justice Naqvi still in Supreme Judicial Council dock despite resignation . 12 January 2024.
Web site: 2024-03-07 . SJC finds Justice Naqvi guilty of misconduct . 2024-03-07 . The Express Tribune . en.