ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday approved the appointment of Justice Musarrat Hilali as the regular Chief Justice (CJ) of the Peshawar High Court.
Justice Musarrat Hilali has previously worked as acting CJ of the Peshawar High Court.
The president approved the judge’s appointment under Article 175A (13) of the Constitution, a statement issued by the President’s Secretariat said.
After she was appointed the regular Chief Justice, Musarrat Hilali became the second woman in the country who has been appointed as the chief justice of a high court.
The first woman was the Balochistan High Court chief justice, Justice Syeda Tahir Safdar.
On 1 April, the high court got its first female chief justice as Justice Musarrat Hilali took the oath of her office.
Upon the retirement of Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan on 30 March, the senior-most judge of the court, Justice Noorul Amin Khan, was appointed as the acting Chief Justice. But his stint at the esteemed office lasted a day only.
After Justice Khan’s retirement on 31 March, a day after he took charge as acting Chief Justice, Justice Musarrat Hilali was appointed the first female acting top judge of the Peshawar High Court.
Acting CJ of Peshawar High Court
President Alvi appointed Justice Hilali as the acting top judge until the appointment of a regular CJ.
On 14 April, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan unanimously recommended the name of Justice Hilali for appointment as the high court’s regular CJ during a meeting chaired by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial. The commission then sent its recommendation to the parliamentary committee for approval.
Born in Peshawar on 8 August 1961, Justice Musarrat Hilali received a law degree from Khyber Law College (KLC), Peshawar University. She started her distinguished career as an Advocate of District Courts in 1983, enrolled as an Advocate of the High Court in 1988 and then of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) in 2006.
