Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial on Friday administered oath of office to Justice Mussarat Hilali, swearing her in as the second woman in Pakistan’s history—after Justice Ayesha Malik—to be elevated to the Supreme Court.
Hilali, formerly the first woman chief justice of the Peshawar High Court (PHC), was elevated to the apex court in a ceremony attended by Supreme Court judges, Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan, and members of the legal fraternity. Following her elevation, the top court now has a total strength of 16 judges, leaving just one vacancy. Justice Hilali would now serve in the Supreme Court for three years before she retires in 2026.
President Arif Alvi formally appointed Justice Hilali as a Supreme Court judge on Wednesday, a day after the Parliamentary Committee on Judges’ Appointments unanimously approved her elevation by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan last month.
Born in Peshawar on Aug. 8, 1961, Justice Hilali secured a law degree from Khyber Law College, Peshawar University and enrolled as an advocate of the district courts in 1983. Subsequently, she became an advocate of the Peshawar High Court in 1988 and an advocate of the Supreme Court in 2006.
Her illustrious career has included her being elected the first woman office-bearer of the Peshawar Bar as its secretary from 1988-89; as its vice-president from 1992-94; and as its general secretary from 1997-98. She was also the first woman to be twice elected as an executive member of the Supreme Court Bar Association from 2007-09.
Justice Hilali was elevated as an additional judge on March 26, 2013, becoming a permanent judge of the PHC on March 13, 2014. She took oath of office as the acting chief justice of the PHC on April 1, before being confirmed to the slot on May 12, 2023, becoming the second woman CJ of a high court in Pakistan after Justice Tahira Safdar, the chief justice of the Balochistan High Court from September 2018 to October 2019.