ISLAMABAD: Days after he was appointed as the Acting Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court (PHC), the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) recommended the name of Justice Musrat Hilali as the permanent Chief Justice of the High Court.
In a JCP meeting presided over by Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial, the JCP unanimously recommended the appointment of Justice Hilali – Senior Judge and Acting Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court.
The commission sent its recommendations to the parliamentary committee for approval.
On April 1, the High Court got its first female Chief Justice when Justice Hilali took oath of office.
After the retirement of PHC Chief Justice Qaiser Rasheed Khan on March 30, Justice Nurul Amin Khan, the senior-most judge of the court, was appointed as the Acting Chief Justice. But this period of his was only for one day.
Following the retirement of Justice Khan on March 31, a day after she assumed the post of Acting Chief Justice, Justice Hilali was appointed as the first woman Acting Chief Justice of the PHC.
The President appointed Justice Hilali as Acting Chief Justice pending the appointment of a regular Chief Justice.
Chief Justice Hilali’s tenure will end in August. She will serve as the Chief Justice of PHC for five months.
Who is Justice Musarrat Hilali?
Born on August 8, 1961 in Peshawar, Justice Hilali obtained his law degree from Khyber Law College, University of Peshawar and was admitted as an Advocate of the District Courts in 1983, an Advocate of the High Court in 1988 and an Advocate of the Supreme Court. Pakistan in 2006
Being a woman, she achieved many achievements in her career including:
- 1988-1989 First woman elected official to the post of Secretary at the Bar
- Vice President at the Bar from 1992 to 1994 (twice).
- He was the General Secretary from 1997 to 1998.
- First woman to be elected Executive Member of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) for two terms from 2007-2008 and 2008-2009.
She was also the first woman Additional Advocate General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from November 2001 to March 2004 and was later appointed as the first woman Chairperson of Environmental Protection Tribunal of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Justice Hilali also served as the first woman ombudsman for the protection of women against harassment in the workplace.
She joined the Bench as an Additional Judge on 26 March 2013 and was confirmed as a Permanent Judge of the Peshawar High Court on 13 March 2014.
