Muhammad Munir (Urdu: محمدمنیر; 1895–1979) was the second Chief Justice of Pakistan serving from 1954 to 1960.
Muhammad Munir | |
|---|---|
| محمدمنیر | |
| 2nd Chief Justice of Pakistan | |
| In office 29 June 1954 – 2 May 1960 | |
| Appointed by | Malik Ghulam Muhammad |
| Preceded by | Abdul Rashid |
| Succeeded by | Muhammad Shahabuddin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1895 Amritsar, Punjab, British India |
| Died | 1979 (aged 83–84) |
| Alma mater | Government College University, Lahore |
Background
editMunir was born into a Kakkyzai Pashtun family and obtained his degree of master's in English Literature from Government College University Lahore, he joined Punjab University Law College to earn his L.L.B. He started his career as a lawyer in Amritsar in 1921. He moved to Lahore in 1922.[1]
Career
editMunir was appointed assistant advocate-general of Punjab in 1937, and first president of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal of British India in 1940. He was elevated to the Bench of Judicature at Lahore in 1942. He and Justice Din Muhammad represented the All India Muslim League on the Punjab Boundary Commission in 1947. The following year he was made the chairman of the Pakistan Pay Commission. In 1949, he was made the chief justice of the Lahore High Court.[2]
Chief Justice
editIn 1954, Munir was made the chief justice of the Federal Court,[3] chief justice of Pakistan. Besides being the chief justice, he also remained the chairman of the Delimitation Commission from June 1956 to July 1958. He retired on 2 May 1960.[1]
In the major Federation of Pakistan v. Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan case, Munir invoked the doctrine of necessity, validating the dissolution of the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. The assembly was dissolved on 24 October 1954, by Governor General Ghulam Muhammad, an alumnus of Aligarh Muslim University. He has been widely criticized for validating the dissolution, although some of the Pakistani politicians had called for its dissolution.[4] Due to Munir’s ruling in the case, he has been perceived as a controversial figure, primarily due to his doctrine legitimizing the further dissolutions of assemblies.[5]
He also validated 1958 Pakistani military coup by invoking doctrine of necessity.[6]
Writings
editJustice Munir also wrote a book From Jinnah to Zia, arguing that Jinnah stood for a secular state.[7][8][9][10]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Chief Justice Muhammad Munir: his life, writings, and judgements. Research Society of Pakistan. 1973. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ^ Chief Justice Muhammad Munir: His Life, Writings and Judgments. Research Society of Pakistan. 1973. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ^ Paula R. Newberg (16 May 2002). Judging the State: Courts and Constitutional Politics in Pakistan. Cambridge University Press. pp. 25–. ISBN 978-0-521-89440-1. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ^ Imtiaz Omar (2002). Emergency powers and the courts in India and Pakistan. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. pp. 55–. ISBN 978-90-411-1775-5. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ^ "Legacies of Pakistan's chief justices: The highs and lows". www.geo.tv. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
- ^ Qazi, Sabina (27 March 2015). "Necessity as the mother of laws". Herald Magazine. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
- ^ Muhammad Munir (1980). From Jinnah to Zia. Vanguard Books. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ^ Muhammad Munir. Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading. Goodreads.com. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ^ "From Jinnah to Zia". The News International. 8 April 2012. Archived from the original on 8 April 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ^ Hafiz Sher Muhammad. The Ahmadiyya Case. www.aaiil.org. pp. 316–. GGKEY:19TKD2GN31G. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
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