Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth died of coronavirus on Thursday. He was 59.

Spokesperson for Peshawar High Court said that Justice Waqar was under treatment at Kalsoom International Hospital in Islamabad for the last 10 days. He breathed his last on Thursday night. The funeral prayer of the judge would be held tomorrow at Shami Road, Peshwar at 2pm.

Lawyers announce mourning

The Pakistan Bar Council and the Supreme Court Bar Association announced observing countrywide mourning tomorrow on the demise of Justice Waqar Seth. The nation has lost a fearless judge, said Pakistan Bar Council Vice Chairman Abid Saqi. He said Justice Waqar would be remembered as real hero.

Supreme Court Bar Association President Abdul Latif Afridi said that Justice Waqar always ruled for supremacy of the constitution. He said that lawyers would not appear before the courts tomorrow.

Musharraf verdict 

Justice Waqar presided the special court which heard the high treason case against Pervez Musharraf and one of the two judges on a three judge panel who convicted Musharraf and sentenced him to death.

Couple of days ago, Justice Waqar Seth filed a plea in the Supreme Court seeking elevation to the apex court. He drew the court’s attention to the fact that he was the senior most judge in all the four high courts and had the lawful right to be considered for elevation as a judge of the Supreme Court.

Earlier, Justice Waqar had filed a similar petition when Justice Ijaz Afzal Khan of the Supreme Court retired in May 2018. Justice Ijaz Afzal Khan belonged to KP.

Early life and education

Born in Dera Ismail Khan on March 16, 1961, he received his early education from Cantonment Public School, Peshawar. He got Higher Secondary School Certificate from the FG Inter College for Boys in 1977 and a Bachelor of Science degree from Islamia College, Peshawar in 1981. He did his LLB from Khyber Law College, Peshawar in 1985 and MA (Political Science) from the University of Peshawar in 1986.

Judicial career

Seth started his professional career in December 1985 when he was enrolled as an advocate in the lower courts.

He was enrolled as an advocate of the high court on March 22, 1990. Subsequently, on May 24, 2008, he was enrolled as an advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

His judicial career started on August 2, 2011, when he was elevated to the Peshawar High Court as an additional judge. He has also remained a banking judge, company judge and a member of subordinate Judiciary Service Tribunal, Peshawar.

On 28 June 2018, he was appointed Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court. He was inducted into the special court hearing high treason case against Pervez Musharraf in October 2019 as the president of the court.

On 17 December 2019, the three-member bench of this special court awarded death sentence to Musharraf in a short order.

In November 2018, Justice Waqar as part of two member bench of Peshawar High Court reversed sentences of military courts against 74 convicts, 50 of which were death sentences.