Justice Syeda Tahira Safdar
Justice Syeda Tahira Safdar, daughter of Syed Imtiaz Hussain Baqri Hanafi, a renowned lawyer, was born on the 5th of October 1957, at Quetta. She received her basic education from the Cantonment Public School, Quetta, and went on to complete her Bachelors’ Degree from the Government Girls College, Quetta. Justice Syeda Tahira Safdar 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 Syeda Tahira Safdar was successful in the Competitive Examination held by Balochistan Public Service Commission, and so started her career as a Civil Judge on the 22nd of April 1982. Subsequently, she was promoted to the rank of Senior Civil Judge on the 29th of June, 1987, and as Additional District and Sessions Judge on the 27th February, 1991.
On the 1st of March 1996, she was once again promoted as District and Sessions Judge. Justice Syeda Tahira Safdar also worked as a Presiding Officer in the Labour Court. She was appointed as a Member of the Balochistan Services Tribunal on the 22nd of October 1998, and worked as such until she was appointed as Chairperson of the Balochistan Services Tribunal on the 10th of July, 2009. While working as Chairperson, Justice Syeda Tahira Safdar was elevated to the position of Additional Judge, High Court of Balochistan on the 7th of September, 2009 and confirmed as judge of the High Court of Balochistan on the 11th of May, 2011.
Justice Syeda Tahira Safdar attended training on International Law for Justice on, ‘Meeting International Human Rights Standards in Criminal Proceedings’, which was held in Hague, Netherlands in 2012. She also participated in the conference on ‘Environmental Law, 2011 Conference’ in Quetta, and ‘International Judicial Conference’ in Islamabad, on the 13th to the 15th of April, 2012.
Justice Syeda Tahira Safdar attended South Asia Regional Workshop in Cyber crime and Electronic Evidence, in Colombo, Sirilanka from 24th to 26th August 2015. She also participated in 39th Annual Conference on The National Association of Women Judges’ (NAWJ) , at Atlanta, GA, held on October 11-15, 2017, under “Access to Justice – Past, Present, Future”.
Justice Syeda Tahira Safdar is a Member of the Administration Committee, the Promotion Committee and the Committee for drafting rules, regulations, notifications, circulars, and to examine the rules and their particulars.
Justice Syeda 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 offence of High Treason against ex-president General Parvaiz Musharaf vide Notification dated 20th November 2013.
Justice Syeda Tahira Safdar was the first lady to be appointed as a Civil Judge in Balochistan, and has the distinction of being the first lady to be appointed in all of the posts she has served.Justice Syeda Tahira Safdar took oath as Chief Justice of the High Court of Balochistan on 1st September, 2018.