Justice Musarrat Hilali becomes first female Chief Justice of PHC
Justice Musarrat Hilali, a distinguished Pakistani jurist, is set to become the first female Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court on April 01, 2023.
This appointment is a significant milestone for gender equality in the country’s judiciary. Chief Justice Qaiser Rashid and Senior Puisne Judge Roohul Amin Khan’s retirements created the vacancy, and Justice Hilali is the senior-most judge on the list. However, her tenure as head of the judiciary will last approximately four months, concluding on August 7, 2022.
Justice Musarrat Hilali was born in Peshawar on August 8, 1961, and received her law degree from the Khyber Law College at Peshawar University.
She began her legal career as an advocate of the district courts in 1983 and enrolled as an advocate of the Supreme Court in 2006. She is a trailblazer in her profession, having been the first female to be elected as secretary and vice president of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association and twice elected as an executive member of the Supreme Court Bar Association.
Furthermore, Justice Hilali was appointed as the first female Additional Advocate General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from November 2001 to March 2004.
She was also designated as Chairperson of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Environmental Protection Tribunal.
Her notable achievements include being elevated to the Bench as an Additional Judge on March 26, 2013, and confirmed as a Permanent Judge of the Peshawar High Court on March 13, 2014. In addition, she was appointed as the first female ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Justice Musarrat Hilali’s appointment as the first female Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court is a positive step forward for women’s representation in the legal profession in Pakistan.
