Justice Musarrat Hilali takes oath as second woman SC judge

Justice Musarrat Hilali took her oath as a Supreme Court of Pakistan judge on Friday, becoming the country's second female justice.

At a ceremony attended by other Supreme Court judges, attorneys, and officials, Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial delivered the oath to Justice Hilali.

The elevation of Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice (CJ) Justice Musarrat Hilali to the Supreme Court was authorised by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) last month.

Justice Qazi Faez Isa, the Supreme Court's senior puisne judge, has requested an early meeting of the JCP and offered the names of chief justices of the Sindh and Peshawar high courts to fill two vacancies on the Supreme Court.

Justice Isa advised in a letter to all commission members that the vacancies be filled soon and that the names of the judges to be nominated be submitted ahead of time while keeping the concept of seniority in consideration.

Who is Justice Hilali?

Justice Hilali was born in Peshawar on August 8, 1961, and got a law degree from Khyber Law College, Peshawar University, before becoming an Advocate of District Courts in 1983, an Advocate of the High Court in 1988, and an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 2006.

From November 2001 until March 2004, she was the first woman Additional Advocate General for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and she was then appointed as the first woman head of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Environment Protection Tribunal.

She was also the first woman Ombudsman for the Protection of Women at Workplace Harassment. On March 26, 2013, she was appointed as an Additional Judge and confirmed as a permanent judge of the Peshawar High Court on March 13, 2014.

On April 1, 2023, she took oath as the acting CJ of PHC.