Lahore, Jul 11: Justice Aalia Neelum on Thursday took oath as the Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court (LHC) of Pakistan, making her the first woman to be elevated as the court’s top judge.

Punjab Governor Sardar Saleem Haider Khan administered the oath of office to her.

Punjab province's first woman Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz was also present in the oath-taking ceremony.

Justice Neelum, 57, stood third in the seniority list of judges of the LHC but the Judicial Commission of Pakistan headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa had decided to consider her nomination for the office of the LHC chief justice.

Soon after her elevation to the office of the CJ LHC, Neelum's pictures with the members of the ruling Sharif family went viral on social media suggesting that she has an association with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N).

Born on November 12, 1966, Justice Neelum earned her LLB degree from the University of Punjab in 1995 and was enrolled as an advocate in 1996.

She was later enrolled as an advocate of the Supreme Court in 2008 and elevated to the LHC in 2013 before being sworn in as a permanent judge on March 16, 2015.

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Mumbai, Mar 14 (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Friday called the BJP rule in Maharashtra worse than that of Aurangzeb and claimed that farmers were dying because of the saffron party.

He claimed that farmers, unemployed people and women are committing suicides in the state.

“It’s been 400 years since Aurangzeb was buried. Forget him. Are farmers in Maharashtra committing suicide due to Aurangzeb? They are doing it because of you," Raut said.

If the Mughal ruler committed atrocities, then what is the government doing, he asked. BJP leads the ruling Mahayuti coalition, also comprising the Shiv Sena and NCP, in the state.

“Farmers are committing suicide. BJP's tenure is worse than that of Aurangzeb,” Raut said.

He was responding to a question on Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s remarks that “everyone” feels Mughal ruler Aurangzeb’s tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar should be removed. But it has to be done under legal purview as the previous Congress regime put the site under the Archaeological Survey of India's protection, Fadnavis had said.

BJP's Satara MP Udayanraje Bhosale, a descendant of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, had sought the removal of Aurangzeb's tomb located in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district.

Aurangzeb is remembered in Maharashtra for his battles with the Marathas, who resisted his expansionist ambitions. Shivaji Maharaj's son, Sambhaji, was captured, tortured, and executed on his orders.