Naseem Hassan Shah. PHOTO: FILE
Eminent jurist and former chief justice of Supreme Court Justice (retd) Nasim Hassan Shah, known for his presence on the infamous bench of the top court which upheld the death penalty for Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 86. With a 26-year tenure behind him, Nasim Hassan Shah was the country’s longest serving judge.
Justice Shah, who served as the Supreme Court’s top judge between 17 April 1993 and 14 April 1994, was one of the judges who restored Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government after it was dissolved by then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan.
He was instrumental in passing judgments on the separation of the judiciary from the executive and held proceedings on a contempt of court petition against former army chief General Mirza Aslam Beg.
Shah was born on April 15, 1929, in Lahore. His father Syed Mohsin Shah was an advocate and political activist. He received his early schooling from Cathedral School Lahore and graduated from Government College, Lahore in 1947.
He was awarded the Academic Roll of Honour Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) from University of the Punjab and completed his MA in Political Science from Government College Lahore in 1951. The former chief justice earned his Doctorate in Jurisprudence “Docteur-en-Droit” from University of Paris (Sorbonne) and a Doctorate in Political Science from Institute Des Hautes Etudes Internationales of University of Paris in 1954.
He was appointed as a high court judge at the age of 39 and was elevated to the apex court in 1977, making him the youngest justice in the history of the Supreme Court and the longest serving judge in the country’s history. Shah also had a brief stint as the president of Pakistan Cricket Board between 1993 and 1994.
In 1994, Shah found himself at the centre of controversy after confessing that he passed the judgment against former premier Zulfikar Ali Bhutto under pressure. Members of Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party including his son-in-law, Asif Ali Zardari pinned the former chief justice for his murder.
Tributes from the great and the good of the legal fraternity started pouring in following news of the death of Justice Shah, who passed away on Tuesday after a career spanning decades. In his message, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed deep condolences and praised the jurist for his services.
Justice Shah’s funeral prayers will be offered at 58-D-I, Sir Syed Road, Gulberg-II Lahore on Wednesday (today) at 9:00am. He is survived by three daughters. Present judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa is one of his sons-in-law.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 4th, 2015.
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Good riddance! May God does him justice, something he was never able to do despite the grace Allah bestowed on him.
While (quite a few of) his relatives continue to wreak a havoc in current Higher Judiciary, it is clear that his traits weren't just murdering people on whims of dictator but also nepotism.