ISLAMABAD: The chief justice of Pakistan has, once again, nominated Justice Ayesha Malik’s name for the post of Supreme Court judge.
If elevated, she will become the first woman to become the apex court judge in the 74-year-old judicial history of Pakistan. A judicial commission session has been summoned on January 6 on her appointment.
This is the second time Justice Malik has been nominated. Previously, in September, she wasn’t appointed over the failure of consensus amongst the commission’s members.
Her appointment was supported by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan, and Law Minister Farogh Naseem. Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice (retd) Dost Muhammad Khan, and Pakistan Bar Council representative Akhtar Hussain had, on the other hand, opposed it.
Justice Malik is at the number four position in the seniority list of Lahore High Court judges. She has been a judge at the court since March 27, 2012. She did her BCom from the Government College of Commerce & Economics, Karachi, and studied law at Lahore’s Pakistan College of Law, according to her profile on the Lahore High Court’s website. She then went on to complete her LLM from Harvard Law School, where she was named London H Gammon Fellow 1999-1999.
The mother of three children used to fight pro bono cases for NGOs working on poverty alleviation, microfinance, and skills training programmes. Justice Ayesha A Malik had authored the landmark verdict banning two-finger and hymen tests of rape survivors in Punjab as well.
After elevation to the judge of the apex court, she would serve as the judge for 10 years. She may even become the Chief Justice of Pakistan after the retirement of Justice Yahya Afridi in January 2030. She would hold this office for a year or so, sources have said.
