The Judicial Commission of Pakistan unanimously on Tuesday nominated Justice Aalia Neelum as the Lahore High Court chief justice, making her the first female judge for the post.

This historic development marks the first time that the selection of an LHC chief justice has been made through a voting process among three judges.

Justice Shujaat Ali Khan was the senior puisne judge in the high court while Justice Neelum was third in the seniority list after the elevation of incumbent LHC CJ Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan to the Supreme Court.

Born in 1966 in Lahore, Justice Neelum obtained her law degree from the Punjab University Law College in 1995 and has additional legal diplomas to her credit. She started her legal practice as an advocate in 1996, becoming a high court lawyer in 1998 and a Supreme Court lawyer in 2008. Justice Neelum has practised in various fields of law, including constitutional, civil, criminal, and terrorism cases.

She was appointed as an ad-hoc judge of the Lahore High Court in 2013 and became a permanent judge in 2015. She has also issued standard operating procedures for recording witness testimony through video links.