What You Think? Is Aalia Neelum’s Appointment a Sign of Progress for Gender Equality in Pakistan’s Judiciary?

July 2, 2024 will always be remembered in the history of judiciary of Pakistan. Pakistan’s Judicial Commission has appointed Aalia Neelum as the first female Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court to a landslide vote! The sequence and the outcome of this court decision can be considered as the step to the equality of women and men, since it is going to impact upon gender relations and can be a precedent for the future ones.

The Judicial Commission of Pakistan with Justice Qazi Faez Isa as the head of the commission on Tuesday approved this nomination unanimously. Thus, Neelum’s appointment proves that a woman is also capable of mastering the subject and becoming a judge in the higher instance. This is a positive development in the history of the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for women.

About her biography, Alia was born on November 12, 1966 and obtained her LL.B. from the University of the Punjab in 1995. In 1996, she was enrolled as an advocate, later serving as an advocate in the Supreme Court from 2008.

In addition, she has narrated several monumental decisions after being appointed to the LHC bench since the year 2013. She also developed the SOPs for recording the evidence by video link. Educationally, she possesses a Master of Arts in Political Science, a B. Ed, several other diplomas pertaining to law and judiciary.

Justice Aalia is third in the list of seniority of LHC after promotion of former LHC Chief Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan to the Supreme Court of Pakistan. After the promotion of Justice Shahzad, the second senior most judge of the LHC is Justice Shujaat Ali Khan, who had taken the acting charge of CJ, LHC by order of President Asif Ali Zardari under Article 196.

At the same time, Justice Shafi Muhammad Siddiqui was also recommended for approval for the post of the SHC chief justice. The slot was left open following the promotion of the former SHC CJ Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi as a top court judge along with Justice Shahzad and Justice Shahid earlier this month.