Tahira Safdar sworn in as first female chief justice of BHC

QUETTA: The Balochistan High Court (BHC) Chief Justice Syeda Tahira Safdar took oath of her office on Saturday.The Governor Balochistan, Muhammad Khan Achakzai, administered oath to the chief justice at a ceremony in the provincial capital. The ceremony was attended by the outgoing BHC chief justice Muhammad Noor Meskanzai, judges of the high court, high-ranking officials and members of the legal fraternity.

Justice Tahira Safdar has become the first woman to be appointed the chief justice of any high court in Pakistan. The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mian Saqib Nisar, had given the go-ahead to her appointment as the BHC chief justice. Tahira Safdar was born to a renowned lawyers’ family on October 5, 1957, in Quetta. She received her basic education from the Cantonment Public School and went to complete her Bachelor’s degree from the Government Girls College. She did her Master’s in Urdu Literature from the University of Balochistan, and completed her degree in law from the University Law College, Quetta, in 1980.

Tahira Safdar emerged successful in a competitive examination held by the Balochistan Public Service Commission, and started her career as a civil judge on April 22, 1982. She was promoted as a senior civil judge on June 29, 1987, and as an additional district and sessions judge on February 27, 1991. On March 1, 1996, she was promoted as district and sessions judge before being elevated to BHC as additional judge on September 7, 2009, and was confirmed on May 11, 2011.

Justice Tahira Safdar is one of the three judges of the Special Court constituted under Section 4 Criminal Law Amendment (Special Court) Act 1976, for trial of high treason against ex-president General Parvaiz Musharraf.