PESHAWAR: Justice Musarrat Hilali will take oath as the first woman chief justice of the Peshawar High Court today (Saturday).

She is the senior puisne judge of the court and will serve in the CJ’s office until the appointment of a regular chief justice by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan.“

Justice Roohul Amin Khan took oath as the acting CJ for a single day on Friday and laid down robes afterwards on attaining the retirement age of 62.

He was administered the oath by provincial Governor Ghulam Ali at the Governor’s House here.

Later, a full court reference was held in his honour. The speakers included Justice Musarrat Hilali, provincial advocate general Aamir Javed, additional attorney general Sanaullah and Peshawar High Court Bar Association president Rehmanullah.

Justice Amin holds office for one day due to retirement

Chief Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan retired a day ago.

Justice Roohul Amin retired after remaining on the bench for over a decade. He was elevated to the Peshawar High Court as an additional judge in July 2012 and was confirmed as a permanent judge in March 2014.

Addressing the ceremony, Justice Roohul Amin Khan said a strong bar was vital for a strong and vibrant judiciary.

He said both the bar and the bench shared a glorious past.

The judge said for upholding rule of law and independence of the judiciary, the lawyers of the province had always played an important role.

“During my stint on the bench, it remained my endeavour to deliver justice without any fear or favour,” he said.

Justice Amin said he was grateful to the legal fraternity for extending all-out support to him in deciding cases of public importance.

Highlighting his role as administrative judge of the high court for prisons affairs, he said he had strived for digitalisation of prisons for virtual hearing of cases.

“Because of the digital facilities, the physical appearance of prisoners in the courts is minimised. They now appear via a video-link,” he said.

He said that biometric and other digital applications were introduced for prisoners.

Other speakers paid tribute to Justice Amin and highlighted his efforts made for prison reforms.

Justice Amin was born in Peshawar’s Chamkani village on April 1, 1961 and did his LLB from Khyber Law College, University of Peshawar, in 1985.

During his professional career, he was enlisted as an advocate by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council in 1986 and as an advocate of the high court in 1989. He became an advocate of the Supreme Court in 2001. He also served as the deputy attorney general for Pakistan and deputy advocate general for KP.

Before his elevation to the high court bench, Justice Amin had regularly been conducting cases of civil, revenue, criminal, constitutional, services, labour, commercial, income tax, etc before all the legal forms.

He was elected as member of the Pakistan Bar Council and twice elected as member of the KP Bar Council. He was also thrice elected as member executive Committee of the Supreme Court Bar Association for three consecutive terms from 2003 to 2006.

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2023