Chief Justice Lahore High Court Muhammad Yawar Ali administered oath to first ever blind judge of the country Yousaf Saleem here Tuesday. Yousaf is a son of charted accountant and is visually impaired by birth. He has four sisters and two of them are visually impaired. His sister Saima Saleem became first visually impaired civil servant in 2007 and currently serving with Prime Minister Secretariat while the other sister is a university lecturer.
He took oath along with 20 other civil judges who passed the written exam out of 3648 candidates in Punjab. Yousaf Saleem, who belongs to Lahore, despite being topper of the civil judges was first denied the position but was considered later after Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar took notice of it.
The CJP had directed the Lahore High Court to review the case of Yousaf Saleem, observing that a blind person can become a judge provided that he meets all other qualification.
The other civil judges who took oath include Sardar Umar Hassan Khan, Saba Qamar, Naseem Akhtar Naz, Maira Hassan, Qamar Abbas, Ihsan Nawaz, Muhammad Bilal, Muhammad Amir Sultan Kolachi, Muhammad Abbas, Sumaira Jabbar, Ali Raza, Muhammad Bilal Khan, Muhammad Tariq, Rasheed Khan, Obaid Hassan, Sana Afzal, Mansoor Ahmad, Allah Nawaz, Muhammad Zubair Sabir, Muhammad Javed Iqbal and Shaheen Noor.
Lahore High Court Chief Justice Muhammad Yawar Ali addressed the oath-taking ceremony. He asked the judges to deliver justice without fear and favor. The CJ said rendering justice is the sacred profession.