The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed approved the elevation of Justice Ayesha Malik on Thursday by a majority of five votes against four, a Dawn report said.
It is important to note that this was the second time the JCP held a meeting to decide on Justice Ayesha Malik's elevation. Her name was first taken up for discussion on September 9 last year but later rejected owing to a tie of four votes against four, the report said.
Meanwhile, a countrywide protest has been called against her name being considered by Abdul Latif Afridi, president of Pakistan's Supreme Court Bar Association saying that Justice Malik is junior to many judges serving in the country's five high courts.
On Thursday, the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) had threatened to boycott the courts if the JPC cleared Justice Ayesha Malik's name for elevation.
However, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan's recommendation will now be considered by a parliamentary committee. In most cases, this committee concurs with the JCP's recommendation, which means that Justice Ayesha Malik is now one step closer to becoming Pakistan's first woman Supreme Court judge.
An LLM graduate from Harvard Law School, Justice Ayesha Malik was a partner at a leading corporate and commercial law firm before her elevation to the Lahore High Court as a judge in 2012. She is currently the fourth senior-most judge in the Lahore High Court.
She is known for her discipline and integrity and has decided on a number of key constitutional issues, including the declaration of assets in elections, payments to sugarcane growers, and the enforcement of international arbitration in Pakistan.
