FULL COURT REFERENCE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN IN HONOUR OF MR. JUSTICE SARDAR MUHAMMAD RAZA JUDGE SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN, HELD ON 09-02-2010 AT THE EVE OF HIS RETIREMENT

Address By
CH. MUHAMMAD NASRULLAH WARRAICH,
CHAIRMAN, EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE,
PAKISTAN BAR COUNCIL

On 9th February, 2010

Hon'ble Chief Justice, Hon'ble Judges of the Supreme Court, Mr. Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza, learned Attorney-General, learned President of Supreme Court Bar Association, distinguished guests and lawyer colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen;

It is matter of great honour and privilege for me to be present in and address this dignified gathering in connection with Full Court Reference being held to bid farewell to Mr. Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza, on his retirement from the office as judge of the Supreme Court.

I humbly offer myriad of greetings and good wishes brought from the Members of Pakistan Bar Council, to Mr. Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza on the eve of his retirement.

Mr. Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza, belongs to a respectable family having an enviable social status. He was born on 10-02-1945 in Village Namli, a promising Son of Mr. Muhammad Yousuf Khan who was awarded Pride of Performance for his honesty, hard work and devotion to the welfare of people of the Illaqa. Mr. Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza has brilliant academic career, passed his Matriculation Examination from Govt. High School No. 2, Abbottabad, graduate from Government College Abbottabad, in 1962, he got admission in Forman Christian College, Lahore and did his Master's in Economics in the year 1966 from the University of Punjab, thereafter joined Punjab University Law College and obtained his LL.B. degree in the year 1967; Appeared in the competitive examination PCS (Judicial) and was selected as Civil Judge by topping the list of candidates from N.W.F.P. He served as Civil Judge and Senior Civil Judge till May, 1976 when he was promoted as Additional District & Sessions Judge in 1976 and as District and Sessions Judge in 1979.

Remained Judicial Commissioner for Northern Areas for more than four years, visited USA in 1985 to study the American Legal System; attended three months training course on 'Corruption Among Public Officials' in Tokyo on the recommendations of Mr. Justice Ajmal Mian, the then Chief Justice of Pakistan; remained posted as District & Sessions Judge, D. I. Khan, Mansehra, Abbottabad and twice at Peshawar; from 1984 to 1988; remained posted as Judicial Commissioner for Northern Areas at Gilgit; appointed Special Judge Customs, Taxation and Anti Smuggling in 1992-93; elevated as Additional Judge on 14th December 1993 and confirmed as Judge of Peshawar High Court in June 1995; elevated as Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court in April 200, ultimately he was elevated as Judge of this Apex Court and took the oath on 10th January 2002; visited Ipoh, Malaysia to attend the Intellectual Discourse on "the independence of the judiciary in the Islamic and Non-Islamic Judicial Systems" from 9th to 11th June, 2004.

With regard to the personality of Mr. Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza, as Judge I would add that centuries ago, a sage concerned with administration of justice, defined a 'Judge' to be a person who does not know plaintiff or a defendant or any counsel appearing for any of the parties but he knows only the cause which awaites his decision". I may be permitted to say that Mr. Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza during his tenure first as Judge and Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court and later on this August Court has proved that he has all the aforesaid qualities of a Judge. He will always be remembered as towering personality in the Judicial History of the Apex Court. Needles to add that undoubtedly he is man of integrity and principles and has always acted according to the dictates of conscience and accepted norms of Justice. He never deviated from his principles and always stood for what is right. His clarity of thought, felicity of expression and profundity of knowledge has added a bustre to the Judicial pronouncements that have emanated from our superior Courts.

His behaviour was superb and unrivalled. He was symbol of nobility and tolerance. He was extremely kind, deliberately helpful and deeply anxious to advance the cause of justice. One quality which the lawyer value more than any other in a judge, is capacity to give patient hearing to the counsel for parties while arguing the case. Mr. Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza has been eminently blessed with this quality. I have not heard any of my lawyer brothers raising grievance that he had not been given adequate and patient hearing by the Hon'ble Judge. The hallmark of his personality as Judge of the Apex Court is that he does not have the slightest taint of any Bias around him.

His intelligence, competence and sense of doing justice strictly according to its accepted norms, dictates of law, and conscience is reflected in long series of his noteable judicial pronouncements that shine in the law Journals. However, I shall be failing in my duty if I do not make reference to his two landmark judgments firstly; in Constitution Petition No. 58/2007 titled "Qazi Hussain Ahmed Vs. General Pervaiz Musharraf & others" holding that General Pervaiz Musharraf was not eligible to contest the election for office of President of Pakistan either with or without uniform. It was also held in his additional note that infamous 'Doctrine of Necessity' is against Quranic Injunctions and secondly his scholarly classic dissenting judgment in Civil Review Petition in Constitution Petitions Nos. 8 and 9/2009 titled "Khurshid Anwar Bhinder Vs. Federation of Pakistan etc" wherein he reminded and reaffirmed the true spirit of "justice" by saying 'I wish they had followed the quotations' of Lord Denning, "Justice isn't something temporal it is eternal-and the nearest approach to a definition that I can give is, justice is what the right thinking members of the community believe to be fair". If a just end is to be achieved, it must be through just means.

In my humble estimation, Mr. Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza can legitimately be ranked with some of our greatest judges i.e. late Mr. Justice A. R. Cornlius, Mr. Justice Hamood-ur-Rehman, Mr. Justice Shafi-ur-Rehman, and Mr. Justice M. R. Kayani.

I am fully conscious of may inability to adequately express myself in paying his honour a befitting tribute. It is not the manner or quality, which should matter in my humble tribute but the spirit in which it has been presented to Mr. Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza and I am sure it will be accepted for whatever its worth.

In the end I express my gratitude to Hon'ble Chief Justice, Hon'ble Judges of Supreme Court, Mr. Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza, the learned Attorney-General, learned President, Supreme Court Bar Association and learned Members of the Bar.