The Judicial Commission of Pakistan is expected to promote Justice Ayesha A Malik to the Supreme Court in a historical move as she will become the first female judge of the apex court in the country’s history, reported Dawn.
The JCP is expected to meet on September 9 to make the decision.
According to Dawn, currently, the strength of the Supreme Court is complete with 17 judges. However, Justice Ayesha will replace the apex court’s judge Justice Mushir Alam who will reach superannuation on August 17.
Justice Ayesha is fourth on the seniority level in the Lahore High Court.
Earlier, the apex court elevated Balochistan High Court chief justice Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel and Sindh High Court’s Judge Muhammad Ali Mazhar to the Supreme Court.
Justice Mazhar was fifth on seniority level in the SHC.
Meanwhile, the JCP named SHC Chief Justice Justice Ahmed Ali Sheikh an ad hoc judge of the apex court. However, he declined the offer in a letter to the commission.
Born in 1966, Justice Ayesha completed her basic education from Schools in Paris and New York and did her Senior Cambridge from the Karachi Grammar School. She then did her A' Level from Francis Holland School for Girls in London. She went on to do her Masters of Law from Harvard Law School in the US where she was named a London H Gammon Fellow 1998-1999 for outstanding merit.
If she is elevated she will join the following list of Supreme Court judges, which includes 15 judges and two ad hoc members of Shariat Appellate Bench:
Justice Mushir Alam
Justice Umar Ata Bandial
Justice Umar Ata Bandial
Justice Maqbool Baqar
Justice Sardar Tariq Masood
Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan
Justice Mazhar Alam Khan
Justice Sajjad Ali Shah
Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah
Justice Munib Akhtar
Justice Yahya Afridi
Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed
Justice Aminud Din Khan
Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar
Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail
The two ad hoc members of Shariat Appellate Bench are:
Dr Muhammad Al-Ghazali
Dr Khalid Masud