-Prime Minister, Army Chief grieved by sad demise
-Another Judge falls prey to COVID – 19 in Lahore
-1,808 Coronavirus new cases reported in one day
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth died of coronavirus on Thursday.
A spokesperson from the Peshawar High Cour said Waqar Seth was hospitalized a week back with coronavirus-related complications and was undergoing treatment at Kulsoom International Hospital in Islamabad.
His funeral prayers will be offered today in Peshawar at 2:30 pm.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Gulzar Ahmad, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and other senior judges have expressed grief and sorrow over the demise of Justice Waqar Seth.
“Saddened to learn of the passing of Chief Justice Peshawar High Court Waqar Ahmed Seth. May his soul rest in peace – Ameen. My condolences & prayers go to his family,” PM wrote in a tweet.
Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and Supreme Court Bar Council announced to observe one-day mourning tomorrow (Friday) across the country-wide courts over the sad demise of Justice Waqar Ahmed.
Waqar Seth was born in Dera Ismail Khan on March 16, 1961, he received his early education from Cantonment Public School, Peshawar.
He did his LLB from Khyber Law College, Peshawar in 1985 and M.A. (Political Science) from the University of Peshawar in 1986.
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.
Justice Seth was elevated to the PHC as Additional Judge on August 2, 2011, and took oath as Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court on June 28, 2018.
He was inducted into the special court hearing the 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 the death sentence to Musharraf in short order.
Meanwhile Pakistan on Thursday has reported 34 deaths in last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 349,992. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 7,055.
According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) 1,808 persons have been tested positive for COVID-19 in 24 hours.
Sindh remains the worst-hit province by the pandemic in terms of cases followed by Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad.
Till now 152,072 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 108,221 in Punjab, 41,258 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 22,765 in Islamabad, 16,226 in Balochistan, 5,041 in Azad Kashmir and 4,409 in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Furthermore 2,704 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Sindh, 2,438 in Punjab, 1,302 in KP, 154 in Balochistan, 248 in Islamabad, 93 in GB and 116 in Azad Kashmir.
Pakistan has so far conducted 4,810,182 coronavirus tests and 36,686 in last 24 hours. 320,849 coronavirus patients have recovered in the country whereas 1,164 patients are in critical condition