The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on Thursday approved the nomination of Justice Ayesha Malik for her appointment as Supreme Court judge.

Justice Malik's elevation was approved by a majority of five votes against four in a meeting chaired by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed. The meeting was called to discuss the elevation of Justice Ayesha to the highest court of the country.

Chief JusticeAhmed, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, retired judge Sarmad Jalal Osmani, Attorney General of Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan and Law Minister Dr Farogh Naseem endorsed her nomination.

Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and PBC representative Akhtar Hussain opposed it.

Justice Ayesha is number four on the Lahore High Court (LHC) judge seniority list.

She became a judge of the court in March 2012. After elevation, she will work as a Supreme Court judge until June 2031.

The legal fraternity has been divided over her elevation ever since CJP Gulzar Ahmed nominated her for the appointment as a Supreme Court judge in August 2021.

Many in the legal fraternity have opposed the appointment as they believe that she does not meet the seniority criteria.

According to the Supreme Court, after a nominee is approved by the JCP then their name for elevation is recommended to the parliamentary committee for approval.

PTI minister Maleeha Bokhari had tweeted in support of Justice Ayesha's elevation saying it was time for the country to have a woman on the highest benches.

Both legal expert Reema Omer and musician Meesha Shafi tweeted their congratulations to Ayesha Malik as well.

However, lawyer Salaar Khan tweeted some of the concerns common in the legal fraternity about the process not being as transparent as they would have liked.