After 18 years, a woman judge takes oath

As the PHC strength increases to 13, seven seats still remain vacant.

PESHAWAR:

After a gap of 18 years, a woman was appointed as an additional judge at the Peshawar High Court for only the second time in the court’s history.

Besides Justice Irshad Qaisar, three other additional judges took oath on Friday, raising the number of PHC judges from 9 to 13. The new members gave oath to Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan.

Although a total of nine names had been recommended, only four were confirmed. Seven seats still remain vacant.

The newly inducted judges include former Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) advocate general Justice Asadullah Khan Chamkani, former K-P bar council member Justice Roohul Amin and former district and sessions judge (Dera Ismail Khan) Akhunzada Shahjahan.

The first woman judge at the PHC was Justice Khalida Rashid who took oath in 1994.

Profile of Justice Qaisar

Justice Irshad Qaisar was born in Peshawar on June 15, 1954, and completed her schooling in Peshawar.

After graduating from college, Justice Qaisar did her Masters in bar at-law from Khyber Law College in 1979 and became an ad-hoc civil judge.  After appearing in Public Service Commission exam, she was confirmed as a civil judge on January 13, 1980 followed by her posting as first class magistrate in Haripur in 1983.

On February 15, 1984, she was promoted as Civil Judge Mardan, from where she was transferred as section officer law department on March 7, 1985.

In 1987, Justice Qaisar became a district and sessions judge followed by her posting as additional sessions judge in Peshawar in 1992.

She served there for two years before she was posted as solicitor of K-P’s law department. Later, she was posted as probation officer special court on October 13, 1997.

After serving at the special court for around five years, Qaisar was deputed as district and sessions judge Charsadda on November 1, 2002. She has also served as district and sessions judge Mardan from July 15, 2005 to July 31, 2006.

From September 1, 2006 to October 27, 2011, she served as a judge at the Accountability Court followed by her posting as district and sessions judge Kohat on October 28, 2011. Before her elevation to the PHC, Justice Qaisar served as district and session judge Nowshera from April 5, 2012 and was eventually elevated as additional judge of the PHC on July 20, 2012.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 21^st, 2012.