Justice Mushtak Ali Kazi (21 December 1917 – 5 February 2002), was a Pakistani jurist and writer, who served as a Judge of the High Court of Sindh and

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

Birth and family

Kazi was born in

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

, then part of the

Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, on 21 December 1917. He was a distinguished alumnus of the

University of Bombay The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

. His father, Ali Muhammad Kazi, joined the Indian Police and rose to the position of District

Superintendent of Police Superintendent (Supt) is a rank in the British police and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries, the full version is superintendent of police (SP). The rank is also used in most British Overseas Territories ...

, a position normally reserved for the British. His elder brother, Mumtaz A Kazi, had a distinguished career in the civil service and served as Member of the Sindh Public Service Commission. He married Razia Effendi, grand daughter of Khan Bahadur Hassanally Effendi - founder of the Sindh Madressah and one of the pioneers of the Pakistan movement. He was a nephew of the scholar

Imdad Ali Imam Ali Kazi Imdad Ali Imam Ali Kazi ( sd, علامه آء آء قاضي) (18 April 1886 – 13 April 1968), also known as Imdad Ali Kazi, the son of Kazi Imam Ali Ansari, was a scholar, philosopher, jurist, and educationist. He is considered to be a ...

and his German wife

Elsa Kazi Elsa Kazi (1884–1967), commonly known as "Mother Elsa", particularly in the Sindh province of Pakistan was a German writer of one-act plays, short stories, novels and history, and a poet. She was a composer and a musician of considerable achiev ...

. He had two sisters, one of them was married to the late Mr A R Kazi, Joint Secretary Ministry of Law,

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provin ...

while the other was married to Mr Muhammad Hassan Kazi, who was engaged in business with the

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

community. Several of his cousins including Mr

A G N Kazi Aftab Ghulam Nabi Kazi ( ur, آفتاب غلام نبی قاضی; 6 November 1919 – 9 August 2016) , also known as AGN Kazi, was a Pakistani civil servant and a bureaucrat during the Cold War and during the post cold war. Kazi was born in Si ...

, the late Mr

Ahmed Hussain A Kazi Ahmed Hussain A. Kazi Tamgha-e-Pakistan (Medal of Pakistan) Award (15 August 1920 – 7 January 2007) was a civil servant of Pakistan and senior advocate of the Pakistan Supreme Court, who shaped the internal revenue, economic and industrializ ...

and the late Justice

Bashir Ghulam Nabi Kazi Justice Bashir Ahmed Ghulam Nabi Kazi better known as Justice B G N Kazi (1921–1986) was the younger son of Khan Bahadur Ghulam Nabi Kazi a veteran educationist of British India, and a renowned jurist of Pakistan. Family Justice Kazi's elde ...

were also inducted in the civil service and rose to high positions. Several other members of the family who opted for the judiciary include Justice Mohammed Hayat Junejo, the late Justice Imam Ali G Kazi, Justice Akhter Ali G Kazi, and Justice Mukhtiar Ahmad Junejo. His nephew Justice

Mamoon Kazi Mamoon Kazi (1938—April 2, 2014) was a Pakistani judge. Life Since his retirement, Kazi led a quiet life in Karachi, but his name was mentioned in 2013 to be the National Accountability Bureau The National Accountability Bureau ( ur, ; ab ...

rose to be Chief Justice High Court of Sindh, while his son-in-law Justice

Agha Rafiq Ahmed Khan Agha Rafiq Ahmed Khan (born 23 August 1949) a Pakistani jurist belongs to Garhi Yasin in Shikarpur District of Sindh, Pakistan. He is the son-in-law of Justice Mushtak Ali Kazi, who was a Judge of High Court of Sindh and Balochistan. Justice A ...

is the current Chief Justice of the

Federal Shariat Court The Federal Shariat Court (FSC) is a constitutional court of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, which has the power to examine and determine whether the laws of the country comply with Sharia law. The court was established in 1980 during the gov ...

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 ...

Career

After his initial postings as senior civil judge, Mushtak Ali Kazi remained District and Sessions judge in several districts of

. During the early 1970s, he was appointed as Joint Secretary Ministry of Law,

. He was subsequently elevated as a Judge of the High Court of Sindh and Balochistan. During his career as judge he served initially as Member and later as President of the

Hyderabad tribunal The Hyderabad tribunal (1975–1979), also known as Hyderabad conspiracy case, is the name of a former judicial tribunal used in Pakistan to prosecute opposition politicians of the National Awami Party on the charges of treason and acting against t ...

in a high-profile case involving leading politicians such as

Abdul Wali Khan Khan Abdul Wali Khan ( ps, خان عبدالولي خان; 11 January 1917 – 26 January 2006) was a Pakistani secular democratic socialist and Pashtun people, Pashtun leader, and served as president of Awami National Party. Son of the promin ...

Sardar Ataullah Mengal Ataullah Mengal (; 24 March 1929 – 2 September 2021) was a Pakistani politician and feudal figure. He was the head of the Mengal tribe until he nominated one of his grandsons, Sardar Asad Ullah Mengal, as his tribal successor. He was also the ...

, Ghous Bakhsh Bizenjo and Azizullah Sheikh. Although averse by nature to politics he was forced to sit on the bench until the case was withdrawn by the government and the tribunal disbanded in 1978. After his retirement from the High Court he served as Chairman of the Sindh Services Tribunal and Chairman of the

Sindh Public Service Commission The Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC) is a provincial agency of Government of Sindh that is responsible for recruiting civil servants and bureaucrats for the Government of Sindh. History The Public Service Commission was set up for the fi ...

Post retirement activity

After his retirement, Kazi devoted himself to writing books, and his works are catalogued in several distinguished libraries. He initially wrote his memoirs entitled ''Journey through Judiciary''. It was obvious from his memoirs that he was deeply inspired by his uncle

and aunt

. His second book was a biography focusing on the life and thoughts of his uncle. For his third book he edited and compiled some selected writings and speeches of his uncle.

Justice Mushtak Ali Kazi Park

A park in the name of Justice Mushtak Ali Kazi was made by the Judicial Officers Co-operative Housing Society Ltd, Hyderabad. The former Chief Justice and President of the society,

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

initiated the idea and it was approved with majority vote by Committee. This was done to honour the services of Justice Kazi to the Sindh Judiciary. On 14 November 2015, the park was officially opened for the public and the Chief Justice of Pakistan,

Anwar Zaheer Jamali Anwar Zaheer Jamali ( ur, born 31 December 1951) is a Pakistani jurist who served as the 24th Chief Justice of Pakistan. He remained in the Supreme Court from 3 August 2009 to 30 December 2016. He has also served as the Acting Chief Election ...

inaugurated the park and all Judges 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 ...

and High Court of Sindh were present on this auspicious occasion.

Death

Kazi died on 5 February 2002, due to cardiac arrest, leaving behind his widow, Razia, and three daughters (Farida, Fauzia and Farzeen), and several grandchildren including Humayun, Samir, Syma, Hasan, Agha Haris, Hira Agha Shah, Nadia Shah, Sanaa Agha Shah and Agha Fahad. News Report in the Daily Dawn of 6 February 2002
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References