Syed Sajjad Ali Shah

Syed Sajjad Ali Shah (Urdu: سید سجاد علی شاہ‎) was the Chief Justice of Pakistan from 4 June 1994 to 2 December 1997.

Early education and law

He was born on 17 February 1933 at Karachi, schooled at Sindh Madressa-tul-Islam and did his Matriculation in 1951. He later joined D.J. Science College, Karachi and after passing 1st Year Science Biology Group switched over to arts. After graduating in Political Science and General History from Sindh Muslim College in 1956 left for England and was admitted in Lincoln's Inn. Called to the Bar in 1959 and was an Advocate of the erstwhile High Court of West Pakistan in January 1961. Appointed as District Public Prosecutor and Government Pleader, Lasbella, with headquarters at Karachi in 1963 and was allowed private practice at Karachi.

Appointed as Additional District & Sessions Judge against a vacancy reserved for members of the Bar in 1967. Served as District and Sessions Judge in various Districts in the Punjab during one Unit period and after its disintegration, in Sindh. Appointed as Joint Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Law and Parliamentary Affairs January 1974. Posted as Registrar of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 1977.

Elevated as Judge of High Court of Sindh in 1987. Held extra assignments as Custodian of Evacuee Properties in the Province of Sindh, Chairman, Special Court under Suppression of Terrorist Activities (Special Courts) Act, 1975; Special Appellate Court (Customs) and Chairman, Provincial Election Authority, Sindh (for elections to the local bodies), Member Syndicate, Senate and Election Board of Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Member of the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi Board of Trustees, Election Tribunal appointed by Election Commission of Pakistan in respect of general elections held in 1985. Participated in a programme titled "Introduction to Computer and Technology in Courts" at National Judicial College, Reno, Nevada, USA Chief Justice, High Court of Sindh, Karachi from 1989 to 1990. Elevated to Judge, Supreme Court of Pakistan from 1990 to 1994.

Chief Justice of Supreme Court

When Dr. Nasim Hasan Shah retired as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1994, Justice Saad Saud Jan should have taken his place based on seniority. But Ms Benazir Bhutto threw tradition overboard, when she by-passed two senior judges and appointed Sajjad Ali Shah as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Later, she was dismissed by President Farooq Leghari on charges of corruption and Sajjad Ali Shah along with 6 other members of the Supreme Court upheld this decision. Reading from a 12-page short order, Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah said

The presidential order contained enough substance and adequate material had been provided to conclude that the government could not be run in accordance with the provisions of the constitution and that an appeal to the electorate had become necessary.

Other services

• Former Chairman of Iran-Pakistan Friendship Association

Works

• Law Courts in a Glass House: An Autobiography, by Sajjad Ali Shah [ISBN 0-19-579561-X]

See also

• Chief Justice of Pakistan
• Chief Justices of Pakistan
• Supreme Court of Pakistan
• List of Pakistanis

References

• Judging the State : Courts and Constitutional Politics in Pakistan, by Paula R. Newburg [ISBN 0-521-89440-9]

Chief Justices of Pakistan Abdul Rashid Muhammad Munir Muhammad Shahabuddin A.R. Cornelius S. A. Rahman Fazal Akbar Hamoodur Rahman Yaqub Ali Sheikh Anwarul Haq Mohammad Haleem Afzal Zullah Nasim Hasan Shah Saad Saud Jan Syed Sajjad Ali Shah Ajmal Mian Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui Irshad Hasan Khan Bashir Jehangiri Sheikh Riaz Ahmad Nazim Hussain Siddiqui Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry (1st) Javaid Iqbal Rana Bhagwandas Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry (2nd) Abdul Hameed Dogar De facto; stripped Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry (3rd) Tassaduq Hussain Jillani Nasir-ul-Mulk Jawwad S. Khawaja Anwar Zaheer Jamali Italics indicate acting officeholders