Lahore High Court

The Lahore High Court is the highest court of the Pakistani province of Punjab, with supreme appellate jurisdiction over provincial cases there. It was established as a high court in 1882 and has its principal seat in Lahore, with secondary benches in Rawalpindi, Multan and Bahawalpur, the three benches created by an order of January 1981. Its roots lie in the judicial structure built after the British annexed the Punjab in 1849, including the Punjab Courts Act of 1865 and the Chief Court of the Punjab, which was elevated to a high court in 1882. The province of West Pakistan was formed in 1955 and a West Pakistan High Court was established in 1956, drawing in judges of other courts. The Lahore court is headed by a Chief Justice, currently Aalia Neelum, and about sixty justices; the retirement age is 62, and appeals go to the Supreme Court of Pakistan.