PESHAWAR – Justice Musarrat Hilali marked a milestone in the Pakistani judiciary as she was sworn in as the first acting chief justice of Peshawar High Court.
The female jurist took the oath of her office on Saturday as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Haji Ghulam Ali administered the oath to her. Caretaker Chief Minister of the country’s northwestern region, several ministers, judges, and lawyers were present on the historic occasion.
Justice Musarrat Hilali taking oath as Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court . #HistoryintheMaking #JusticeMusarratHilali #WomeninLaw pic.twitter.com/2M9w6vCssA
— Nida Khan (@NidaAdvocate) April 1, 2023
Her appointment was approved by President Dr. Arif Alvi as she replaced outgoing chief justice, Qaiser Rasheed. She was sworn in as an Additional Judge of the Peshawar High Court on March 26, 2013, and confirmed as a permanent judge of the Peshawar High Court on March 13, 2014.
Born in KP’s capital in 1961, she received Law Degree from Khyber Law College Peshawar University and enrolled as an Advocate of District Courts in 1983, as an Advocate of the High Court in 1988, and as an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 2006.
She was said to be the first woman additional advocate general of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from in 2004 and was later appointed as the first woman chairperson of the provincial Environmental Protection Tribunal.
She enrolled as an advocate of district courts in 1983; as an advocate of the high court in 1988, and as an advocate of the Supreme Court in 2006.
The noted judge also remained at other coveted posts including first female ombudsperson for the Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace. The 61-year-old was the first woman to be named as Peshawar Bar Association secretary; the vice president of the bar twice from 1992 and 1994 and the general secretary of the bar from 1997 to 1998.
Furthermore, she etched her name in history books for being elected twice as an executive member of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) respectively from 2007-2008 and 2008-2009. She was elevated to the bench as an additional judge in March 2013, and a permanent judge of the PHC in 2014. She is set to retire in August 2023.
