ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan’s President Arif Alvi on January 21 approved the elevation of Lahore High Court Justice Ayesha Malik as the country’s first-ever female judge of the Supreme Court.
“In exercise of powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 177 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the President is pleased to appoint Mrs Malik, a judge of the Lahore High Court, with effect from the date she takes the oath of her office,” read a notification issued by the Ministry of Law on Friday.
She will now work as a Supreme Court judge until her superannuation in June 2031 and would be in the line to become the chief justice by January 2030, based on her seniority.
The historic development came just two days after the bipartisan Parliamentary Committee on the Appointment of Superior Judiciary, headed by Senator Farooq H Naek of Pakistan People’s Party, approved the 55-year-old justice’s nomination as the Supreme Court judge.
The nomination was sent by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) earlier this month.
Naek, while approving her nomination, set aside the seniority principle – Justice Malik is in the fourth position on the seniority list of the judges of the Lahore High Court – adding that the approval is in the name of the national interest.
Earlier, on January 6, the JCP contested the issue before finally granting approval of Malik’s nomination by a marginal difference of five members supporting Malik, while four opposing her nomination.
Born in 1966, Malik completed her basic education from schools in Paris, New York, and Karachi, having studied law at Pakistan College of Law, Lahore and did her LLM from Harvard Law School.
She is known for her landmark judgment back in June 2021 when she had declared virginity tests for examination of sexual assault survivors “illegal and against the Constitution of Pakistan.” (PTI)
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