ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi approved the appointment of Justice Mussarat Hilali as the regular chief justice of the Peshawar High Court (PHC).
Justice Hilali has previously been working as acting chief justice of the PHC.
The president approved her appointment under Article 175A (13) of the Constitution, according to a statement issued by the President’s Secretariat.
After her appointment as the regular CJ, Justice Hilali has become the second female in the country who has been elevated to the office of chief justice of a high court — the first being Justice Syeda Tahir Safdar, the chief justice of the Balochistan High Court.
On April 1, 2023, the high court got its first woman chief justice as Justice Hilali took the oath of her office.
After the retirement of PHC Chief Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan on March 30, the most senior judge of the court, Justice Noorul Amin Khan was appointed as the acting Chief Justice of the PHC. But his stint lasted a day only.
After Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan’s retirement on March 31, a day after he took over as the acting CJ, Justice Hilali was appointed as the first woman acting chief justice of the PHC.
On April 14, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) unanimously recommended the name of Justice Mussarat Hilali for appointment as the regular chief justice of the high court during a meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial. The commission sent its recommendation to the parliamentary committee for approval.
Justice Mussarat Hilali was born in Peshawar on August 08, 1961, and she received a law degree from Khyber Law College, Peshawar University and enrolled as an Advocate of District Courts in 1983, as an Advocate of the High Court in 1988 and as an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 2006.
She was also the first female Additional Advocate General of Khyber-Pakhtun-khwa from November 2001 to March 2004 and was later appointed as the first female Chairperson Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Environmental Protection Tribunal.
Justice Hilali also served as the first female ombudsman for protection against the harassment of women in the workplace. She was elevated to the bench as an additional judge on March 26, 2013, and confirmed as a permanent judge of the PHC on March 13, 2014.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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