Justice Ayesha Malik to be sworn in as first-ever female SC judge today

ISLAMABAD: By taking oath as a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday (today), Justice Ayesha A Malik will mark the judicial history of the country for being the first woman judge of the Apex court. She was officially elevated to the rank of the first female judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday.

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Gulzar Ahmed will administer the oath at a ceremony to be held at theApex Court’s building at 9am. Justice Umar Ata Bandial, the nominated CJP, and all other judges of the SC will be in attendance. With Justice Ayesha taking oath of her office, the Supreme Court will attain the strength of 17 judges of whom eight belong to Punjab alone. Besides Justice Ayesha, other judges from Punjab are Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin, Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Syed Mazahir Ali Naqvi. Interestingly, the four judges from Lahore will now have the opportunity to become the CJP in future namely Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Ayesha A. Malik. It is pertinent to mention here that the elevation of Justice Ayesha as SC judge did not prove to be a cakewalk as lawyers from across the country had opposed her promotion on seniority grounds.