Judge Musarrat Hilali administers the oath of office before taking over as interim Chief Justice of the PHC.
Judge Hilali made history in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa by becoming the first woman to assume the position of Chief Justice.
PESHAWAR: Justice Musarrat Hilali, the first female chief judge of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), was sworn in as acting chief justice of the Peshawar High Court on Saturday (PHC).
Affirmation of Judge Hilali’s office was performed by Governor K-P Haji Ghulam Ali. On this occasion, the PHC’s ministers, judges, and attorneys were joined by the acting chief minister.
From November 2001 until March 2004, Judge Hilali served as the first female additional advocate general for K-P. She was then named the first female head of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Environmental Protection Tribunal.
The first female ombudsperson for the Protection against Harassment of Women at Work was Judge Hilali.
Judge Hilali, who was born in Peshawar on August 8, 1961, graduated from Khyber Law College of Peshawar University. She registered as a district court attorney in 1983, a high court attorney in 1988, and a Supreme Court attorney in 2006.
She was the first woman to be elected as the secretary of the Peshawar Bar Association in 1988. From 1992 to 1994, she served as the bar’s vice president twice, and from 1997 to 1998, she served as the general secretary of the bar.
As an executive member of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Judge Hilali holds the distinction of being the first woman to be elected twice, from 2007–2008 and 2008–2009.
On March 26, 2013, she was appointed as an extra judge, and on March 13, 2014, the PHC approved her as a permanent judge.
In accordance with the supreme court’s seniority system, Judge Hilali will retire on August 7, 2023.
