PESHAWAR: Justice Musarrat Hilali was sworn in as the first regular woman chief justice of the Peshawar High Court at a ceremony held here at the Governor’s House on Friday.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Haji Ghulam Ali administered oath to Justice Hilali, who had already been serving as the acting chief justice since Apr 1.

The Judicial Commission of Pakistan had recommended appointment of Justice Hilali as regular chief justice of the high court. The parliamentary committee for appointment of judges had given approval to the said recommendation followed by issuance of a presidential notification of her appointment on May 8.

Born in Peshawar on Aug 8, 1961, Justice Hilali, will retire on Aug 7 this year.

The oath taking ceremony was attended by the caretaker chief minister, Mohammad Azam Khan, judges of the high court, provincial ministers, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Police Officer Akhter Hayat Khan, lawyers and government officials.

Justice Hilali is the second regular woman chief justice of any high court in the country as earlier in 2018, Justice Syeda Tahira Safdar was appointed as the chief justice of Balochistan High Court.

Justice Hilali, during her over a month stint as acting chief justice, has visited different prisons as well as judicial complexes and issued several orders for improving the conditions there.

Recently, she has issued directives to the family court judges to expedite disposal of cases, specially those which could not be decided in the stipulated time period of six months.

Recently, the senior puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan Justice Qazi Faez Isa has also reportedly recommended to the Judicial Commission of Pakistan to elevate Justice Hilali to the apex court.

A known human rights activist, Justice Hilali had received her law degree from Khyber Law College, University of Peshawar, and was enrolled as an advocate of district courts in 1983. She was enrolled as an advocate of the high court in 1988 and that of the Supreme Court in 2006.

Justice Hilali has earned several distinctions in her career as a lawyer and then as a judge of the high court.

She was an active member of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association and served as its first female secretary, vice president and general secretary. She was also twice elected as an executive member of the Supreme Court Bar Association for 2007-8 and 2008-9.

She served as the first woman additional advocate general from November 2001 to March 2004 and as chairperson of the KP Environmental Protection Tribunal. She had activated the otherwise dormant environmental tribunal and regularly been hearing cases related to environmental degradation.

Justice Hilali was also the first federal ombudsperson appointed in 2010 under the Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2010. She was elevated to the bench as an additional judge on March 26, 2013, and was confirmed as a judge of the high court on March 13, 2014.

Justice Hilali remained a focal member of the 2007 lawyers’ movement — started after a reference was filed against then CJP Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry — during which she stood alongside the rest of the male-majority legal fraternity.

During that movement, one of her legs got fractured when police raided her residence for arresting her.

She was also considered a close associate of late Asma Jahangir and had also served as the provincial head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

Other Sources: The Nation