A welcome first

The expected rise of Justice Syeda Tahira Safdar as Chief Justice of the Balochistan High Court will be a first

Not too many women have managed to carve out legal careers in Pakistan. While the country still has a few distinguished female lawyers to be presented as role models, women’s representation in the judiciary is nothing much to write home about. With the apex court still without a female judge, the high courts have had only a few. Amid all that, the expected rise of Justice Syeda Tahira Safdar as Chief Justice of the Balochistan High Court (BHC) will be a welcome first. The Judicial Commission of Pakistan, in a meeting scheduled for July 30 under the chairmanship of Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, is highly likely to endorse Justice Safdar as the BHC chief justice. If so, she will be the first chief justice of any high court in the country.

This is not the first time that Justice Safdar has made history. She was the first woman to be appointed, in 1982, as civil judge in Balochistan, besides having the distinction of being the first lady to be appointed to all posts she served. She is a member of the three-judge special court which is trying former military dictator Pervez Musharraf for high treason. Born on Oct 5, 1957 in Quetta, Justice Safdar is the daughter of renowned lawyer Syed Imtiaz Hussain Baqri Hanafi. She had her elementary education from Quetta’s Cantonment Public School and obtained her Bachelor’s degree from Government Girls College, Quetta. She then did her Master’s in Urdu literature from the University of Balochistan, and completed her degree in law from University Law College, Quetta, in 1980. If elevated as the BHC chief justice, Justice Safdar may continue in this capacity till October 5 next year.

As in other areas, gender disparity also prevails in the legal profession, but now the tide of history seems to be turning for women in the judiciary. Should we then hope to soon see our Supreme Court have its first female judge too?  Pakistan is the only country in South Asia which has never appointed a woman as Supreme Court judge.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 18^th, 2018.

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