FULL COURT REFERENCE OF SUPREME COURT IN RESPECT OF LATE MR. JUSTICE MAMOON KAZI,
FORMER JUDGE, SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN,
MAY 7, 2015 - ISLAMABAD.

SPEECH OF MR. AZAM NAZEER TARAR, VICE-CHAIRMAN, PAKISTAN BAR COUNCIL

• My Lord the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr. Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk,

• Mr. Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja, Senior puisne Judge,

• Hon'ble Judges of Supreme Court,

• Mr. Salman Aslam Butt, learned Attorney-General for Pakistan & Chairman Pakistan Bar Council,

• Mr. Fazal-i-Haq Abbasi, President, Supreme Court Bar Association

• Distinguished Members of Bar Councils and office bearers of Bar Associations

• Learned Members of the Bar,

• Ladies and Gentlemen

Assalamu Alikum,

Justice Mamoon Kazi was elevated as a Judge of the Sindh High Court on July 29th, 1985 and rose to become the tenth Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court on April 15th, 1996. Subsequently, he was further elevated to the August Supreme Court of Pakistan on November 4th, 1997.

Justice Kazi received many accolades during his career. He was the model for an appellate judge - scholarly, fair, patient and tremendously even-handed. According to colleagues, who had the honour to rub shoulders with him or argue a brief before His Lordship, Justice Kazi was a fine jurist who proved his mettle through the giant body of his work.

Amongst his various celebrated judgments today I draw reference to his courageous dissenting opinion is case of Wukala Mahaz Barai Tahafaz Dastoor v. The Federation of Pakistan (1998) where His Lordship observed that the amendment to the Constitution introduced by virtue of Article 63(a) regarding disqualification of a member of Parliament on ground of defection violated the fundamental rights and shall be treated as void and unenforceable. In his dicta he, farsightedly, held and I quote:

“Any Amendment to the constitution, if it goes unchallenged, may acquire a permanent place in the Constitution. The Constitution is the fundamental law and its provisions have an element of permanence.... Therefore any provision which is incorporated in the Constitution, will not only bind the present members, but it will equally bind the future generations.''

History is replete that a single yet honest “NO” can create a ripple that resonates across time and changes the very course of history by sparking a revolution. Be it Rosa Parks, who violated segregation laws by refusing to give her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama, city bus in 1955 or be it those 5 Judges, who as a paradox, chose to give up their seat than take oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order promulgated by a dictator in 2000.

Justice Mamoon Kazi you were amongst those 5 Honorable judges who said the famous “NO” and made history that we gather to celebrate today.

We salute not just the body of your work but also your sacrifice for the rule of law and the emancipation of this powerful institution of Judiciary.

The measure of a life well spent is through the number of lives one has touched and the sorrow that one leaves behind. Kazi Sb, yours was indeed a life well spent.

May the Almighty bless your soul and grant you a place in heaven amongst his choicest people.

“Inna Lilian wa inna ilaihi raji'un - Surely to Allah we belong and to Him is our return.”