Nida Aftab

Nida Aftab is a Partner at Bokhari Aziz & Karim, with over a decade of experience in litigation, corporate advisory, and regulatory compliance. She provides legal advice and representation to a wide range of clients including multinational corporations, financial institutions, telecom operators, start-ups and government entities, before the High Courts and key quasi-judicial forums and tribunals including the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PMDC) Competition Commission of Pakistan, NEPRA Appellate Tribunal,  Punjab Healthcare Commission and Customs Appellate Tribunals. She has also advised and represented key federal and provincial regulatory authorities including the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) and Punjab Food Authority, on matters relating to regulatory enforcement and institutional governance.

An IMI-certified mediator, Nida offers structured, confidential dispute resolution services tailored to complex commercial and regulatory disputes.

In addition to her litigation and corporate advisory practice, Nida is deeply engaged in high-level legal and policy reform, advising provincial government departments, development authorities, and multilateral agencies on institutional redesign, legislative drafting, and rights-based governance with a focus on human rights, minority inclusion, and equitable development. Nida serves as Strategic Legal & Policy Advisor appointed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under its Decentralization, Human Rights and Local Governance (DHL) Project. In this capacity, she supports the Government of Punjab’s Human Rights and Minorities Affairs Department in developing foundational policy frameworks, including the Punjab Human Rights Policy, the Interfaith Harmony Policy, and the Punjab Business and Human Rights Action Plan, with an explicit emphasis on the rights of women and religious minorities.

Her legislative contributions include:

• Drafting and successfully advocating for the enactment of the Punjab Undesirable Cooperative Societies (Repeal and Reorganization) Act, 2025, enabling the transfer of state land for public benefit;
• Preparing comprehensive amendments to the Cholistan Development Authority Act, 1976, to strengthen its administrative and financial autonomy and align its mandate with inclusive development goals for one of Pakistan’s most marginalized regions.

A committed advocate for gender justice, Nida has collaborated with Musawi, the Federal Judicial Academy, and the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative on national initiatives to strengthen women’s marriage rights. She conducted editorial and substantive review of the Muslim Family Laws Bench Book for Judges in Pakistan with a focus on Women and Children, authored the Supplementary Guide to the Bench Book on Muslim Family Laws, delivered judicial trainings across provinces, and developed model legislative proposals drawing on comparative reforms from other Muslim-majority jurisdictions.

Nida is a member of the visiting faculty at the International College for Legal Studies (ICLS) and has previously taught law courses at University College Lahore and Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).