Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim

The Honourable Justice Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim (Urdu: فخر الدين جى ابراهيم; born: February 12, 1928—), TI, is a retired Pakistani Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and Senior Advocate Supreme Court, and peace activist. Ebrahim also served as the interim Law Minister from 18 July 1993 till 19 October 1993, and interim Justice Minister 5 November 1996 till 17 February 1997. However, he is well known as the former Attorney General of Pakistan during the democratic government of former Prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and served his close legal adviser throughout the 1970s. In 1988, he was also Govornor of Sindh appointed by the former Prime minister Benazir Bhutto during her first term.^[1] He was born in February 1928 in Dhrol (now in Gujarat), India.

Ibrahim was born in 1928 in Ahmedabad, in the state of Gujarat, British Indian Empire to a Gujarati Muslim family. In 1945, Ibrahim attended the Gujarat Vidyapith where he earned his LLB in Law with distinctions in 1949. While at there, Ibrahim studied courses on philosophy and also attended the lectures given by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, which significantly played an important role for his advocacy for nonviolence. In 1950, Ibrahim moved to Pakistan and then attended the Sindh Law College where he gained the LLM and was honorary conferred a Juris Doctor in 1960. In 1961, Ibrahim established his own firm while he continued lecture at the Sindh Law College. In 1971, Ibrahim was became country's one of the top lawyer, and therefore, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto appointed him as the Attorney General of Pakistan in 1971.

In March 1981, serving as an ad hoc Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, he refused to take a fresh oath, under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) promulgated by General Zia-ul-Haq along with Justice Dorab Patel and Chief Justice Sheikh Anwarul Haq. The PCO not only negated the independence of the judiciary but also prolonged martial law by nullifying the effect of a judgement giving General Zia's regime limited recognition.

Ebrahim served as the Governor of Sindh from 19 April 1989 to 6 August 1990. He was preceded by Justice (retd) Qadeeruddin Ahmed and succeeded by Mahmood A. Haroon.

Ebrahim established the Citizen Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) in 1989. The CPLC works in the mega city of Karachi and has immensely helped the common man in getting the First Information Report (FIR) registered if it is refused by police for some any reason.

In 1996, Ebrahim served as law minister in the caretaker cabinet of President Farooq Leghari, following the dismissal of the government of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Ebrahim heads the law firm of Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim & Company which was originally established in Bombay (now Mumbai, India). The firm shifted to Karachi in 1951. The firm is a regarded general legal practice.

Ebrahim has had long-standing ties with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). In 1995, the PCB initiated an inquiry, under the chairmanship of Ebrahim, to look into allegations made by Australian players Shane Warne and Mark Waugh surrounding the First Test between Pakistan and Australia in Karachi in 1994 and the ODI in Rawalpindi. The Australian cricketers had accused Saleem Malik of offering them bribes which they rejected. The inquiry was frustrated as the Australian players did not travel to Pakistan to give evidence, and thus the Inquiry had to rely on their statements together with the cross examination of Salim Malik. In October 1995, Ebrahim concluded the proceedings by saying "The allegations against Saleem (sic) Malik are not worthy of any credence and must be rejected as unfounded". In December 2006, Ebrahim also served as the Chairman of the Anti-doping Appeals Committee constituted by the PCB which acquitted Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif. Justice Ebrahim was in favour of the acquittal. Statement by Justice Ebrahim: "This appeal committee [therefore] holds that will not be deemed to have committed a doping offence," Ebrahim said. "The ban and punishment imposed by the earlier tribunal is hereby set aside as being contrary to the provision of laws."

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