A member of the committee reportedly told The Express Tribune that the committee had approved Justice Malik's nomination on account of her gender and the historic precedent of her nomination. In the future the committee would continue to abide the seniority principle for judicial appointments, he said.
As a case in point, the committee rejected the appointment of three district and sessions judges to the Peshawar High Court (PHC), citing a violation of the seniority principle.
The seniority principle, which stipulates that nominations should be awarded to the most senior judge, was a fulcrum in the debate over Justice Malik's nomination. The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) threatened to strike over the fact that Justice Malik was only the fourth in seniority in the LHC, while women's judicial rights activists argued that seniority has 'no legal basis.'
The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) approved Justice Malik's nomination in a historic four to five vote earlier this month, slating her to become the first female Supreme Court judge in Pakistan's history.
Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and PBC representative Akhtar Hussain rejected her nomination, while Chief Justice Gulzar, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, retired judge Sarmad Jalal Osmani, Attorney General for Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan and Law Minister Dr. Farogh Naseem voted yes.