Islamabad [Pakistan], July 7 : Pakistan witnessed a big change in its apex court as Justice Mussarat Hilali took the oath, and became the second female judge in Supreme Court on Friday, Dawn reported.
Notably, this is for the first time Pakistan's Supreme Court will have two women judges.
Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial administered the oath to Justice Hilali who had been serving as the Peshawar High Court (PHC) chief justice during a ceremony held at the ceremonial hall of the Supreme Court.
Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan, senior judges and lawyers also attended the oath-taking ceremony.
After Justice Hilali's elevation, the number of top court judges has increased to 16 out of a total sanctioned strength of 17.
Earlier on Wednesday, President Arif Alvi had formally appointed Justice Hilali as an apex court judge, reported Dawn.
The development had come a day after the Parliamentary Committee on Judges' Appointments gave the nod to the unanimous approval given by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on June 14 to elevate the PHC CJ to the apex court.
Last year in January, Justice Ayesha Malik had taken an oath to become the first-ever female judge to reach the apex court.
Justice Hilali was sworn in as the first woman chief justice of the PHC on April 1 after Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan retired from the post.
Following this development, she also became the second female judge to become the chief justice of a high court in Pakistan after Justice Tahira Safdar, the chief justice of the Balochistan High Court from September 2018 to October 2019.
Justice Hilali was born in Peshawar on Aug 8, 1961. She 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, as per Dawn.
She served as the first woman additional advocate general from November 2001 to March 2004 and as chairperson of the KP Environmental Protection Tribunal as well.
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