Musarrat Hilali takes oath as 1st female chief justice of Peshawar High Court

Peshawar (Pakistan): Justice Musarrat Hilali took oath as the first female chief justice of the Peshawar High Court (PHC), media reports said.

Hilali on Saturday took oath as the first female chief justice of the Peshawar High Court (PHC), according to Geo news.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Haji Ghulam Ali administered the oath to the new chief justice as the post fell vacant after the retirement of Chief Justice Qaiser Rasheed.

The ceremony was also attended by the high court judges, office-bearers of the bar councils, lawyers, and ministers of the caretaker government.

If appointed as the regular CJ, Justice Hilali would be 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.

It should be noted that on Friday, Justice Roohul Amin Khan took the oath as chief justice of PHC following the retirement of Chief Justice Rasheed; however, he retired on the same day and was given the honour in a full court reference on the same day.

The governor congratulated Justice Hilali on her new responsibilities and expressed good wishes.

Earlier, President Dr Arif Alvi appointed Justice Hilali as chief justice PHC with effect from April 1 and till the appointment of a regular chief justice by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP).

She was among the senior judges of PHC and would serve as chief justice till her retirement if notified by the JCP.

Hilali was born in Peshawar on August 8, 1961, Justice Hilali received 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.

Being a female, she had several achievements in her career including:

Justice Hilali also served as the first female ombudsman for protection against the harassment of women in the workplace. (UNI)