Tahira Safdar sworn in as first female chief justice of BHC
- By Web Desk -
- Sep 01, 2018
QUETTA: Newly appointed Balochistan High Court (BHC) Chief Justice Syeda Tahira Safdar took the oath of her office on Saturday.
Governor Balochistan Muhammad Khan Achakzai administered the oath to the chief justice at a ceremony in the provincial capital.
The ceremony was attended by the outgoing BHC chief justice Muhammad Noor Miskanzai, Judges of the high court, high ranking officials and members of the legal fraternity.
She became the first woman to be appointed to the post of the chief justice of any high court in Pakistan.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar had given the go-ahead to her appointment as the BHC chief justice.
Ms Tahira succeeded Muhammad Noor Musjabzai who retired from the post of the BHC chief justice on Friday.
She became the first lady to be appointed as a civil judge in Balochistan, and has also privilege of being the first lady to be appointed to all the posts she has previously held, according to her biography posted on Balochistan High Court website.
Justice Safdar was born to a renowned lawyer’s family on October 5, 1957, in Quetta. She received her basic education from the Cantonment Public School and went to complete her Bachelors’ degree from the Government Girls College.
She did her Masters in Urdu Literature from the University of Balochistan, and completed her degree in Law from the University Law College, Quetta, in 1980.
Justice Safdar emerged successful in a competitive examination held by Balochistan Public Service Commission, and so started her career as a civil judge on the April 22, 1982.
She was promoted as senior civil judge on June 29, 1987, and as additional district and sessions judge on February, 27 1991.
On March 1, 1996, she was promoted as district and sessions judge before being elevated to High Court of Balochistan as additional judge on the September 7, 2009 and was confirmed on May 11, 2011.
Justice Tahira Safdar was one of the three judges of the Special Court constituted under Section 4 Criminal Law Amendment (Special Court) Act 1976 for trial of the offence of high treason against ex-president General Parvaiz Musharaf vide Notification dated 20th November 2013.