Justice Ayesha Malik appointed as first female judge of Supreme Court

Islamabad: Justice Ayesha Malik has been appointed as the first female judge of the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan on Friday.

Following the recommendation of the Parliamentary Committee on appointment of judges, the President approved it and the Law Ministry has also issued a notification.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Parliamentary Committee (PC) approved the appointment of Justice Ayesha Malik as a judge of the Supreme Court (SC).

A meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on appointment of judges was held under the chairmanship of Pakistan People s Party (PPP) leader Farooq H. Naek in which the committee approved the appointment of Justice Ayesha Malik as a judge of the Supreme Court.

Farooq H. Naek stated that the name of Justice Ayesha Malik has been approved by consensus. “We are not abolishing the procedure of seniority. If a woman is being appointed for the first time, she has been approved and the name of Justice Ayesha Malik has been approved in the national interest,” he said.

Earlier on January 6, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Gulzar Ahmad Khan had recommended the appointment of Lahore High Court (LHC) judge Justice Ayesha A. Malik as a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

A meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) was chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Gulzar Ahmad. During the meeting the CJP s recommendation of appointing Justice Ayesha A. Malik as a judge of the Supreme Court was dispatched to the parliamentary committee.

Justice Ayesha A. Malik was born in 1966 and received her early education in Paris, New York and Karachi.

She did her B.Com from Karachi and obtained her LLB degree from Lahore. Malik completed her LLM from Harvard Law School, USA. The 55-year-old justice sworn in as a judge of Lahore High Court (LHC) on March 27, 2012.

It is pertinent to mention here that Justice Ayesha A. Malik will be the judge of the Supreme Court till March 2031. She is fourth on the seniority list in the Lahore High Court.