Wajihuddin Ahmed

The Honorable
Wajihuddin Ahmed
وجیہ الدین احمد
Senior Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan
In office
5 May 1998 – 12 October 1999
Nominated by Nawaz Sharif
Appointed by Rafiq Tarar
Chief Justice Sindh High Court
In office
5 November 1997 – 4 May 1998
Preceded by Mamoon Kazi
Succeeded by Kamal Mansur Alam
Personal details
Born (1938-12-01) 1 December 1938
New Delhi, British India
Citizenship British India (1938–1947)
Pakistan (1947–)
Nationality  Pakistan
Political party PTI
Residence Islamabad
Alma mater Forman Christian College University
Sindh Muslim College
Occupation Jurist, judge
Profession Legal scholar
Cabinet Nawaz Government
Religion Islam

Senior Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed (Urdu: وجیہ الدین احمد‎; born 1 December 1938; JD[1]) is a retired senior justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, human rights activist, and former professor of law at the Sindh Muslim Law College.

Prior to be elevated as Senior Justice of the Supreme Court, he briefly tenured as the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court from 1998 until refusing take oath in opposition to martial law in 1999. He remained a strong critic of President Pervez Musharraf, eventually taking up a leading role in Lawyer's movement in 2007 to oppose President Musharraf. Ultimately, he unsuccessfully ran for the presidential elections held in 2007. Since 2011, he has been active in national politics through Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), being the party's candidate for the presidential election 2013.[2] He lost the election on 30 July 2013 to Mamnoon Hussain of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz).

Biography

Education and lectureship

Wajihuddin Ahmed was born into an Urdu-speaking practising lawyer family in New Delhi, British India, on 1 December 1938.[3] His father, Waheeduddin Ahmed, was also a jurist and had held a prestigious in Delhi High Court; his family migrated to Pakistan after independence in 1947. His father, Waheeduddin Ahmed, rose up to become a respected judge, eventually securing appointments as Chief Justice of Sindh High Court and subsequently appointed as senior justice of Supreme Court of Pakistan.[4]

Upon settling in Karachi, Wajihuddin Ahmed attended and matriculated from Sindh Islamic Monastery, moving Lahore Punjab for his further studies.[5] He enrolled at the Forman Christian College University where he attained BA in Liberal Arts in 1962.[5] In 1963, he enrolled in Sindh Muslim College to read law and eventually graduated with LLB degree in 1966. In 1967, he began his doctoral studies in law at the Karachi University; he was awarded JD degree by Karachi University in 1971.[1]

He avoided holding any judicial office, whether elected or appointed, during his father's tenure as a judge.[5] Therefore, he remained associated with the SM College as a professor of law, delivering lectures and teaching law for undergraduate and post-graduate level courses.[5]

Wajihuddin Ahmed

Career

Son of highly reputed Chief Justice of West Pakistan High Court and Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Justice Waheeduddin Ahmed, Justice Wajih enrolled as an advocate of the Sindh High Court and remained Lecturer at the SM Law College for LL. B. and LL. M. classes. He was consecutively elected as president Sindh High Court Bar Association unopposed in 1977 and 1978 and elected President of Karachi Bar association in 1981. Advocate Wajih was appointed Standing Council for Federal Government in 1984 and Advocate General Sindh on 19 November 1986 and elevated to the Bench of the SHC as a Judge in 1988. He became the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court from 5 November 1997 to 4 May 1998 and moved to the Supreme Court in 1998. During his tenure as SHC CJ, most sou moto actions were taken. He acted as Returning Officer during 1997 Presidential Elections and then appeared as presidential candidate against Musharraf in 2007. Justice Wajih joined the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on 10 January 2011.[6]

Contribution and activities

He is deeply involved in human rights issues and judicial education, and has spent much of his private time since retirement on dealing with constitutional concerns. He is the most-invited constitutional expert by television channels in Pakistan.

Arrest in November 2007

He was very vocal against the martial law, ever since it was imposed by the military regime in Pakistan. He was not arrested at the start (3 November 2007), but later on 21 November 2007 he was arrested, and taken to an unknown location. However, he was released after a while.

2013 Presidential election

On 30 July 2013, he was the only opponent of Mamnoon Hussain to become the next president of Pakistan. Ahmed received 77 votes and Hussain got 432 votes.[7]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Supreme Court of Pakistan (1994). The All Pakistan Legal Decisions. 46 (4 ed.). Islamabad, Pakistan: The Supreme Court of Pakistan Press Publications. p. 1090. vUg-AQAAIAAJ.
  2. ↑ "PTI announces presidential candidate". The News International. 20 July 2013. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  3. ↑ Desk. "Details of Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed". Pakistan Herald. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  4. ↑ Web Desk (26 July 2013). "Presidential election: JI to support PTI candidate". Express Tribune. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "PTI Presidential candidate Justice (R) Wajihuddin Ahmed Biography". PTI Public. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  6. ↑ Justice Wajih announces to join PTI > Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf > Insaf News. Insaf.pk. Retrieved on 3 August 2013.
  7. ↑ "Pakistan elects businessman Mamnoon Hussain president". abc.net.au. Retrieved 30 July 2013.

References

Legal offices
Preceded by
Mamoon Kazi		 Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court
5 November 1997 – 4 May 1998 		Succeeded by
Kamal Mansur Alam
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