On Monday, Justice Ayesha Malik took oath as the first woman judge of Pakistan's Supreme Court. This is being described as a watershed moment in the judicial history of the conservative Muslim-majority country.
Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed administered the oath to 55-year-old Justice Malik in a ceremony held at the ceremonial hall of the Supreme Court, which was attended by a large number of apex court judges, the attorney general, lawyers, officials of the Law and Justice Commission and others.
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On Friday, the Ministry of Law had issued a notification saying Justice Malik's elevation has been approved by President Arif Alvi.
Justice Malik was appointed as a judge of the Lahore High Court in March 2012. She will now work as a Supreme Court judge until her superannuation in June 2031.
She will also be the senior-most serving judge and likely to become the Chief Justice of Pakistan in January 2030.
Born in 1966, Malik completed her basic education from schools in Paris, New York, and Karachi, according to the Lahore High Court's website.
She studied law at Pakistan College of Law, Lahore and did her LLM from Harvard Law School, according to the Lahore High Court website.
She gave 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."
Meanwhile, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry and others congratulated Justice Ayesha on her "landmark elevation.
"I want to congratulate Justice Ayesha Malik on becoming the first woman judge of the Supreme Court. I wish her all the best," Khan wrote.
"A powerful picture symbolises the women empowerment in Pakistan, I hope she will be an asset to our Judicial hierarchy… Congratulations #JusticeAyeshaMalik a land mark elevation," tweeted Fawad Chaudhry.
Check out the tweets below:
(With PTI inputs)
