Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan


Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan was the Speaker of Pakistan's Constituent Assembly from 1948 to 1954 and National Assembly of Pakistan between 1962 and 1963.

Early life

Khan completed his master's in English in 1913 and LLB in 1915 and started his legal profession in Faridpur. He was elected vice-chairman of Faridpur Municipality. In 1926, he got elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly from Faridpur. He joined the Indian National Congress. He later became the secretary of the Anjuman-i-Islamia and subsequently joined the Muslim League.

Career

Khan created history when the Constituent Assembly was dismissed by Governor General Ghulam Mohammad in 1954. Khan challenged the dismissal in the court and the case was filed in the morning of 7 November 1954, by Advocate Manzar-e-Alam. Although the High Court agreed and overturned it, the Federal Court under Justice Muhammad Munir upheld the dismissal. He had been president of the Basic Principles Committee set up in 1949.
"Justice A. R. Cornelius was the sole dissenting judge in the landmark judgment handed down by the Supreme Court in the Maulvi Tamizuddin case. That judgment altered the course of politics in Pakistan forever and sealed the fate of democracy. The law had guided him as he had interpreted it and his conscience.".
The decision to uphold the dismissal of the constituent assembly was to mark the beginning of the overt role of Pakistan's military and civil establishment in Pakistani politics.

Personal life

Khan's daughters' were Razia Khan and Qulsum Huda Khan. Razia was an Ekushey Padak winning writer and poet. Qulsum was one of the founders and vice-chancellors of Central Women's University.