Naeem Akhtar Afghan

Early Life and Education

Naeem Akhtar Afghan was born in Quetta on 29^th June 1963. His father Moin Akhtar Afghan is a retired government servant, and his grandfather Ghulam Sarwar Khan Afghan, also known as Afghan Agha Jan, was a renowned Persian and Urdu teacher.

Naeem Akhtar Afghan completed his primary and secondary education at Federal Government Public School and College, Quetta Cantonment.

He graduated in Economics and Statistics from Degree College, Quetta in 1985. He completed his LL.B from University Law College Quetta in June 1988.

Legal Career

Naeem Akhtar Afghan was enrolled as an advocate of the Balochistan High Court on 30^th September 1989. He later enrolled as an advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 12^th May 2001.

During his illustrious legal career spanning over two decades, Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan has practiced law before the Subordinate Courts, Balochistan High Court, Federal Shariat Court, and the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

He conducted numerous criminal, civil, and constitutional cases that have been reported in law journals. He was also a member of the Balochistan Bar Council.

Justice Afghan was appointed by the Chief Justice Supreme Court of Pakistan as a member of the Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) Committee to impart training to the master trainers.

On the directives of the Chief Justice Supreme Court of Pakistan, Justice Afghan conducted an inspection of Sessions Division Sibi and submitted a comprehensive report on 20^th July 2011. The report included the status of the pending cases from oldest to most recent along with the reasons for non-disposal and action taken so far. The report was forwarded to the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan.

Justice Afghan was appointed as chairman of the Building Committee to conduct an audit of the court buildings and residential accommodation of all judicial officers in Balochistan. The report addressed the need to procure lands for the construction of judicial complexes in different districts.

Justice Afghan was Chairman of the Committee for Utilization of Funds under the Provincial Judicial Development Fund (PJDF). He was also a member of the Architectural Competition Committee for approving the design of the High Court bench building in Turbat.

Justice Afghan has also remained an honorary lecturer at University Law College, Quetta. He has delivered lectures to civil judges, judicial magistrates, family judges, and members of Majlis-e-Shura during orientation workshops at Balochistan Judicial Academy, Quetta.

He served on the panel of advocates for Sui Southern Gas Company Limited in Baluchistan, and Pakistan Steel Mills and conducted numerous cases for these companies. He has been appointed arbitrator in different cases by the courts of law. He also served on the panel of the National Bank of Pakistan.

Balochistan High Court

Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan was elevated as Additional Judge of Balochistan High Court on 12^th May 2011. He was appointed as Judge of the Balochistan High Court on 11^th May 2012.

Justice Afghan took oath as Chief Justice of the High Court of Balochistan on 9^th August 2021 after Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail was elevated to the Supreme Court of Pakistan.  He will serve in the position till 28 June 2025.

Justice Afghan issued various orders as soon as he took the charge as the top judge of the province. He barred district court judges from hearing cases in chambers and issuing interim orders.

Justice Afghan also advised the district judges to be punctual and come to court in regular uniforms apart from expediting proceedings in all the pending cases. He said the hearing should not be adjourned without good reasoning and steps should be taken to deal with old cases under the law.