Nasim Hasan Shah


Nasim Hasan Shah was a Pakistani jurist and served as Chief Justice of Pakistan. He is best known for his role in the verdict against Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, which resulted in the death penalty.
His other notable verdict was restoration of the parliament of Pakistan dissolved by then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan. The Supreme Court held that dissolution order was based on an incorrect appreciation of the role assigned to the president and of the powers vested in him by the constitution. The Prime Minister is not answerable to the President. In fact, it is the president who is obliged to act on the advice of the Prime Minister except when he enjoys discretionary powers.
An inspiring man physically 56 inches tall and 50 inches in girth, he overcame his handicap to become the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan from 17 April 1993 to 14 April 1994. After a brilliant academic career and a Doctorate of Law from Paris University, he had a successful legal practice when he was appointed a High Court Judge at the age of 39, and retired from Supreme Court at 65, the longest tenure by any judge in the history of the Indo-Pak subcontinent.

Education

Nasim Hasan Shah was born in Lahore to Syed Mohsin Shah, an eminent advocate and political activist.
Perhaps the only time in Pakistans' Judicial History that a petition against a Former Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Pakistan was filed, seeking registration of a case against him on charges of abetting in the "murder" of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
A division bench comprising Justices Sheikh Abdur Rashid and Bilal Khan held that the petition hardly qualified for processing because the judge of a bench could not be proceeded against in a case which had already been decided.
The members of the bench felt that petitioner Mian Mohammad Hanif Tahir of the People's Lawyers Forum was hardly prepared to address legal aspects of the case and questions arising out of the petition. Instead, he was agitating legal points in a political manner.
One member of the bench remarked;
leader Hanif Tahir had quoted the former chief justice as saying in two of his press interviews that the Supreme Court judgment in the appeal of the late Bhutto against his death sentence awarded by the Lahore High Court, was a wrong decision and it was a fit case for lesser punishment.
The petitioner submitted that Mr Shah was part of the 7-member bench of the Supreme Court which upheld the death penalty. He contended that comments of the former chief justice amounted to a confessional statement and that he had shown no such sentiments while agreeing with the majority opinion of apex court's bench which confirmed the execution of Mr Bhutto.
When the proceedings began, the petitioner requested the court that a larger bench be constituted to hear the case which was of paramount importance. Rejecting the request, the court informed Mr Tahir that petitions seeking registration of FIRs were usually heard by a single bench. It was because of the nature of case that the chief justice had constituted a division bench.
Later, the petitioner requested for time to collect evidence and sought an adjournment. The court refused to do so and directed him to argue his case as he should have gathered evidence before coming to the court.
The petitioner started with quotes from the interview of Mr Shah. The court asked him if such quotes, taken from a television interview, carried any legal significance. When the petitioner submitted that the text of interview was a "public document", the court asked the lawyer to define the legality of public documents and remarked that points raised in the petition were based on hearsay.
As for petitioner's contention that Mr Shah had made a confessional statement in his interview, the court directed him to examine the relevant law to know what a confessional statement was and if it carried a legal weight if given on a non-judicial or extrajudicial forum. He must also differentiate between a press statement and a legal statement recorded in a court of law.
The bench of the Lahore High Court on 12 February 2004 dismissed in limina.
On 25 February 2010, President Asif Ali Zardari said in Quetta: "I believe former Justice Naseem Hassan Shah as the murderer of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto."

Public service record

Pakistan Cricket Board President

Justice Nasim Hasan Shah has remained President of the Board between 1993 and 1994 and during his tenure an ad hoc committee was placed on the Karachi City Cricket Association whose affiliation with the Board had been suspended after the shock confession in a television interview by Dr Nasim Hasan Shah, a member of the Supreme Court bench which rejected Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's appeal, that he had joined the rejectionists under pressure. The decision led to the execution of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

The Citizen's Media Commission of Pakistan

Dr. Nasim Hasan Shah was the founding Chairman of the Commission

Markazzia Majilis-i-Iqbal (The Central Iqbal Committee)

Elected President following his time as Chief Justice of The Supreme Court

Published works