By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme Court welcomed its second female judge on Friday as Justice Mussarat Hilali, a former chief justice of the Peshawar High Court and a human rights activist, took the oath of office.
Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial administered the oath to Hilali, who has served in various judicial and legal positions since 1983, including as the first woman additional advocate general and provincial ombudsperson in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Hilali’s appointment, approved by President Arif Alvi on Wednesday after a parliamentary committee endorsed the recommendation of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan, brings the number of Supreme Court judges to 16 out of a total of 17.
She follows Justice Ayesha Malik, who became the first woman to join the top court in January last year.
Hilali was also the first woman to head the Peshawar High Court, the highest judicial body in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, from April until June this year.
She is known for her outspoken stance on human rights issues and was an active member of the 2007 Lawyers’ Movement that challenged the suspension of then-Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry by former military dictator Pervez Musharraf.
Hilali suffered a leg fracture when police raided her home to arrest her during the protests that eventually led to Musharraf’s resignation and restoration of democracy in 2008.
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