REFERENCE ON THE DEATH OF THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MUHAMMAD AFZAL ZULLAH

Delivered By
MUHAMMAD YASEEN AZAD
President Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan

My Lord The Hon'ble Chief Justice of Pakistan
Hon'ble Judges of Supreme Court of Pakistan
Attorney General of Pakistan, Mr. Moulvi Anwar-ul-Haq
Vice Chairman, Pakistan Bar Council, Mr. Abdul Lateef Afridi
Members of Pakistan Bar Council & Members of the Executive Committee

We have assembled here today to condole the death of Mr. Justice Muhammad Afzal Zullah (Former Chief Justice of Pakistan). Mr. Justice (R) Muhammad Afzal Zullah was born on 19th April 1928. He was active worker in Muslim League Student Federation (Vice President in District) during Independence Movement; he worked in Punjab and NWFP.

He passed his LLB in 1950 in first division. He was enrolled as pleader in 1950 and started his practice at Montgomery (now Sahiwal) and shifted to Rawalpindi in 1951. He was enrolled as Advocate High Court Lahore in 1952, practiced mostly on the Criminal side and occasionally on the Revenue side and shifted to Lahore in early 1961. He was enrolled Advocate of Supreme Court in June 1961, later as Senior Advocate Supreme Court of Pakistan in 1966. In the High Court and Supreme Court My Lord has practiced on the Constitutional, Civil and Criminal side and also worked as Legal Advisor to some institutions including Pakistan Arts Council and PIDC / Small Industries Corporation. He was Secretary of Bar Association Rawalpindi, was delegate from Rawalpindi at Lawyer's Conventions held in Karachi and Lahore in 1967. He also attended the Geneva Conference on peace and was appointed as Standing Committee. He also worked as Lecturer Punjab University Law College for seven years in the subject pleadings / convincing, development of Common Law in the Sub-Continental and Constitutional History of Pakistan.

My Lord was appointed as Additional Judge of High Court of West Pakistan on 11th May 1968, was appointed permanent Judge of the High Court on 14th March 1970 and then again appointed as Judge of Supreme Court of Pakistan on June 1979. He was also a member of Shariat Appellate Bench and Chairman Shariat Appellate Bench of Supreme Court of Pakistan from 17th February 1982. He was acting Chief Justice of Pakistan from 4th to 10th March 1984 and from 18th April 1987.

My Lord Mr. Justice Muhammad Afzal Zullah was appointed as Chief Justice of Pakistan, Chairman Supreme Judicial Council and Chairman Pakistan Law Commission from 1st Jan 1990. He was the Chairman of Board of Governors of the Federal Judicial Academy and Chairman Indus Water Commission. Apart from all above he remained member of Syndicate University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, member Board of Studies in Law University of Multan and Chairman Enrollment Committee Punjab Bar Council and Chairman Punjab Council Tribunal, Member Board of Trustees Islamic University Islamabad, Chairman Disciplinary Committee and Enrollment Committee Pakistan Bar Council from 22nd March 1984, Member Selection Board of Quaid-e-Azam University, Member Secrete Committee for some time nominated as Member of the Council of Shariah Academy and held many other high Offices.

My Lord travelled Europe in 1967, for East in 1970, visited Egypt as Leader of Judges and participated in International Seminar in 1987 in Malaysia. Hid Lordship social interest and social services include religion philosophy and manual handiworks involving technical interest and contribution towards village uplift. He was retired as Chief Justice of Pakistan on 18th April 1993 and died on Dec 23rd 2011.

My Lord was a man of dignity and principle. He was a great personality and well behavior as a Judge of High Court as well as Chief Justice of Pakistan. He will be remembered as nice and gentle Judge and his attitude and behavior will always be remembered by the members of the Bar and each and every person of the society. Due to his death we all have been deprived of a great personality. As a Judge of High Court, Supreme Court and Chief Justice of Pakistan my Lord has given many remarkable Judgments which are very helpful to the legal fraternity.

Man in mortal and life is an illusion. Every one of us has to pay his part and revert back to Allah Almighty with the balance sheet of our acts and deeds. The men lived with allegiance and courage catch the attention and make the mark. Sometimes, they noted to have enriched the life with his character courage and hard work and make it beautiful charming and worth living.

He is no more with us. He was a valuable asset for us and his achievements need no introduction. I hope that we all will follow the footprints of our Justice Afzal Zullah (Former Chief Justice of Pakistan).

The death of My Lord Mr. Justice Afzal Zullah is really a great loss. I on behalf of the members of Supreme Court Bar Association offer condolence to the bereaved family and pray to Allah Almighty to give them strength to bear the loss and rest the depart soul in Peace. Ameen