Justice Musarrat Hilali was sworn in as the first woman chief justice of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) — a role she will have until the judicial commission appoints a regular top judge — at a ceremony held at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor House on Saturday.
KP Governor Haji Ghulam Ali acknowledged Justice Hilali and gave her his best wishes after administering her oath.
She will hold the position until the Judicial Commission of Pakistan appoints a permanent chief justice. She is a senior puisne judge of the court. On Thursday, Chief Justice of the PHC Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan stepped down. The senior puisne (senior most after the chief justice), who is typically a judge, fills the position until a chief justice is selected by the judicial commission.
Justice Hilali would become only the second woman to hold that position in a high court, after Justice Syeda Tahira Safdar’s appointment as chief justice of the Balochistan High Court in 2018.
PHC lawyers, judges, KP police chief Akhtar Hayat Khan, KP law secretary Masood Ahmad, special assistant to caretaker chief minister Pir Haroon Shah, and other caretaker cabinet members were among the top judicial and government officials present at the event.
Impressive career
Justice Hilali, who was born in Peshawar on August 8, 1961, and who is currently, after Justice Rooh-ul-Amin Khan, the senior-most justice on the high court, will retire on August 7 of this year.
She graduated from Khyber Law College at the University of Peshawar with a law degree, and in 1983 she registered as a district court advocate. In 1988, she registered as a high court counsel, and in 2006, she did the same for the Supreme Court.
Throughout her time on the court, Justice Hilali has achieved several honors, beginning with her status as a bar member and civil society activist before being appointed to the bench. She was a vocal advocate for human rights who served as the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s office holder and occasionally served as the leader of its chapter in KP.
As the first female secretary, vice president, and general secretary of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association, Justice Hilali was an active part of the organization. She was also twice chosen to serve on the Supreme Court Bar Association’s governing committee for the years 2007–2008 and 2008–2009.
From November 2001 to March 2004, she held the first female additional general attorney position and chaired the KP Environmental Protection Tribunal.
Additionally, Justice Hilali was chosen in 2010 as the first province ombudsperson under the 2010 Protection Against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act. On March 26, 2013, she was appointed as an additional justice to the bench, and on March 13, 2014, she was confirmed as a high court judge.
Additionally, 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 courageously 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.
