Multan
Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab.
Multan is one of the List ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. He is a lawyer of the
Supreme Court of Pakistan
The Supreme Court of Pakistan ( ur, ; ''Adālat-e-Uzma Pākistān'') is the apex court in the judicial hierarchy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Established in accordance to thePart VIIof the Constitution of Pakistan, it has ultimate a ...
.
He is the cousin of Late Member of Provincial Assembly Khalil Ullah Labar, Malik from PPP in 1988 and father in law of two times UC Chairman and MPA candidate Shakeel Hussain Labar from PP-198 Multan.
Education
He graduated in 1960 from
Government Emerson College Multan
Emerson University, Multan, formerly known as the Government Emerson College Multan is located in the city of Multan in the Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab province of Pakistan. It is also called Govt. College Multan, GC Multan, or Govt. Bosan Road Co ...
. In 1963, he got his law degree from Punjab University Law College,
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
.
Professional career
Baig started practice as a pleader in December at Multan under the pupilage of civil lawyer, Malik Faiz Rasool Labar, Advocate. In January 1966, he was enrolled as Advocate in the High Court and later, Advocate in the Supreme Court of Pakistan. From 1972 until 1988, he was a part-time lecturer of University Gillani Law College, Multan, and from 1974 to 1999, he was senior legal adviser of the
Municipal Corporation
A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally owne ...
Multan. He was the first principal of the Multan Law College, and at present he is Dean of the Multan Law College.
Political career
In 1981, Baig was elected general secretary of the High Court
Bar Association
A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing to separ ...
Multan. From 1984 until 1988, he was elected as member of the
Punjab Bar Council
The Punjab Bar Council ( ur, ) is a deliberative assembly of lawyers in Punjab. It is established by Parliament of Pakistan and consists of 75 members elected from different constituencies of Punjab. Its main functions are to promote and sugges ...
. In 1988, he was elected President of the District Bar Association Multan. In 1992, he was elected unopposed as President of the High Court Bar Association Multan.
Baig was elected as member
Pakistan Bar Council
The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) ( ur, ) was established by the Parliament in 1973 under the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act.
It is the highest elected body of lawyers in Pakistan. It has twenty two members elected from across the count ...
for a period of five years from 2006 to 2010. On 3 May 2007, he was elected as Vice-Chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council and ''
ex-officio
An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term ''ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...
'' Chairman of the National Action Committee constituted for the lawyers movement. Since 2008, Baig has served as Chairman of the Legal Education Committee of the Pakistan Bar Council. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the Public Library of Langay Khan Bagh, which was established in 1886. In 1989, the District Bar Association Multan established a new block of lawyers chambers in recognition of his services towards the lawyers community in the District Courts, Multan, namely "Aziz Block".
Role in lawyers movement
The Pakistan Bar Council is the National Bar Association for Pakistan and the
Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan
The Supreme Court Bar Association ( ur, )(SCBAP) is an association established in 1989 comprising the supreme court lawyers in Pakistan. The Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act 1973 provides for the forming, recognition and functioning of ...
, but is
subordinate
A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...
to the Pakistan Bar Council. On 9 March 2007,
Chief Justice of Pakistan
}
The Chief Justice of Pakistan (Urdu: ) (Initialism, initials as CJP) is head of the court system of Pakistan (the Judiciary of Pakistan, judicature branch of Government of Pakistan, government) and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of Paki ...
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry ( ur, ; born 12 December 1948) is a Pakistani jurist who served as the 20th Chief Justice of Pakistan over three non-consecutive terms from 29 June 2005 to 11 December 2013.
Chaudhry began practice as an advocate ...
was put under
house arrest
In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...
by President Pervaiz Musharraf. The Pakistan Bar Council started the lawyers movement from 10 March 2007. Baig led the Bar Association from March 2007 until May 2008 as Vice-Chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council. He participated in all lawyers' conventions throughout Pakistan. In his speech to the lawyers' convention in the Supreme Court Auditorium, he said that "the lawyers of Pakistan do not accept General Pervaiz Musharraf as President of Pakistan".
On 12 May 2007 he accompanied Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudary, Chief Justice of Pakistan to
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
, but the lawyers and Chief Justice were detained at Karachi Airport and deported from Karachi that evening. He was beaten by police in the procession he led to the doorstep of the Election Commissioner of Pakistan when General Pervaiz Musharraf was nominated as candidate for President of Pakistan. During his tenure as Vice-Chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr. Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary, was restored to his office as Chief Justice of Pakistan on 20 July 2007. That day, he addressed a press conference and thanked God for the restoration of the Chief Justice of Pakistan and also pledged that the lawyers will struggle for the restoration of democracy. On Saturday, 3 November 2007, General Pervaiz Musharraf imposed a state of emergency and 60 judges were sacked.
Mirza Aziz Akber Baig played an important role in the lawyers movement again. At Lahore in a press conference, he said that "All judges who took the Oath under PCO (Provisional Constitution Order) have committed contempt of the order passed on 3 November 2007 passed by 7 members of the Bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan." He protested the detention of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary, his family members and the other 10 Supreme Court judges. The detention was unconstitutional. He demanded the lifting of restrictions on media and the withdrawing of PEMRA (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority) ordinance. Lawyers under his supervision protested blocking transmission of Geo, Ary and Aaj TV channels. He contested that blocking of transmission of the TV channels violates
fundamental rights
Fundamental rights are a group of rights that have been recognized by a high degree of protection from encroachment. These rights are specifically identified in a constitution, or have been found under due process of law. The United Nations' Sustai ...
, specifically freedom of expression which violates the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The law does not allow the government to unilaterally ban transmission of broadcast media, depriving citizens of their rights of access to information. Participants at the convention inside and outside Karachi Hall of the Lahore High Court Bar Association kept the atmosphere warm by chanting slogans against President Pervaiz Musharraf and in favour of the deposed judges and the Bar leaders. As a result of the lawyers' movement for rule of law, the deposed judges and independence of judiciary have been reinstated, and the democracy the judges have been restored.