Sardar Muhammad Raza () was
Chief Election Commissioner from 6 December 2014 to 5 December 2019.
who previously served as retired judge 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 as
Chief Justice of the
Peshawar High Court
The Peshawar High Court ( ur, ) is the highest judicial institution of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. It is located in the provincial capital Peshawar. The Parliament passed a bill extending the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court (SC) and the Peshawar High ...
. Khan was born in the Namli Maira village in the district of
Abbottabad
Abbottabad (; Urdu, Punjabi language(HINDKO dialect) آباد, translit=aibṭabād, ) is the capital city of Abbottabad District in the Hazara region of eastern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 40th largest city in Pakistan and fourth ...
on 10 February 1945.
[Law, Justice & Human Rights Division. Government of Pakistan]
/ref>
Education and training
Raza belongs to the prominent Karlal
The Karlal (Urdu: کڑلال), also known as ''Karral'', ''Kiraal'', and '' Sardar'' is a Hindko and Pahari speaking tribe dwelling mostly in the Abbottabad District of the Hazara Division region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
Etymology an ...
tribe in Abbottabad
Abbottabad (; Urdu, Punjabi language(HINDKO dialect) آباد, translit=aibṭabād, ) is the capital city of Abbottabad District in the Hazara region of eastern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 40th largest city in Pakistan and fourth ...
. After graduating from the Government College of Abbottabad, Khan received a master's degree in economics from Punjab University through the Forman Christian College University in Lahore. He received a LL.B.
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
degree from the same university in 1967.[ Supreme Court Report Golden Jubilee Edition 2006 ]
/ref> In 1985, Khan visited the United States to study the American legal system. In 1999 he attended a three-month training course in Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, "Corruption Among Public Officials". In June 2004, Khan visited Ipoh
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, map_caption = Location of Ipoh in Perak
, pushpin_map = #Malaysia#Asia#Earth
, pushpin_mapsize = 275px
, pushpin_map_caption = Ipoh in Malaysia
, coordinates ...
and Kuala Lumpur
, anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera''
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia
, pushpin_map_caption =
, coordinates =
, su ...
, Malaysia in connection with an international seminar on "Human Rights and Independence on the Judiciary in the Islamic and Non-Islamic Judicial Systems". In 2006 he visited Dhaka, Bangladesh for a conference on the criminal judicial system.
Professional career
Raza joined PCS (Judicial Branch) in 1970 after passing a competitive examination held in 1968–69, and was appointed Senior Civil Judge in 1973. In 1976 he was appointed an Additional District and Sessions Judge, and District and Sessions Judge in 1979. Khan was Judicial Commissioner for Northern Areas for over four years,[Supreme Court Annual Report 2004]
/ref> and was appointed Special Judge Customs Taxation and Anti Smuggling in 1992–93. He was named to the Peshawar High Court on 14 December 1993, and confirmed in June 1995.
On 28 April 2000, Raza took the oath of office as Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court. He was named to the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and took the oath of office on 10 January 2002. After refusing to take an oath on a Provisional Constitutional Order
The Provisional Constitutional Order, popularly known as PCO, is an emergency and extra-constitutional order that suspends either wholly or partially the Constitution of Pakistan — the supreme law of land.
The PCO fulfills and acts as the temp ...
on 3 November 2007, he and eleven other judges were removed from the Supreme Court.[
] On 19 September 2008, after a democratically elected government came to power, Khan was reinstated to the court with his seniority intact.[
]
Major cases
On 28 September 2007, a nine-member 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 ...
bench, in a split 6–3 verdict, held that a petition challenging Pervez Musharraf
General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of the ...
's candidacy for a second term as president was invalid. Raza, head of bench Rana Bhagwandas
Rana Bhagwandas (20 December 1942 – 23 February 2015) was a Pakistani jurist who served as a senior judge and acting chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (CJP). He enjoyed extremely high reputation as a judge. He remained the acting ...
and Mian Shakirullah Jan
Justice Mian Sakirullah Jan () is a former justice in Supreme Court of Pakistan and a former Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court and is currently serving as the Chairman of the National Industrial Relations Commission.
Early life
Justice Ja ...
dissented with the majority opinion. Declaring the petition invalid were Javed Iqbal, Abdul Hameed Dogar
Abdul Hameed Dogar () is a Pakistani jurist who served as the former Justice of Sindh High Court, , M. Javed Buttar, Mohammad Nawaz Abbasi
Mohammad Nawaz Abbasi () is former justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and a former justice of Lahore High Court.
Life
Mohammad Nawaz Abbasi was born in Murree on 7 June 1943. , Faqir Muhammad Khokhar and Falak Sher.
He singularly dissented in a 13 to 1 verdict of the Supreme Court, holding that judges of the superior judiciary should not be condemned unheard; that they should not be proceeded against for contempt; that such notices issued be withdrawn.
In another case, in his separate note, he held that all beneficiaries of NRO be dealt with equality and without discrimination; that the monitoring cell constituted within the supreme court is unprecedented, and the court should take action only when violation of its order is complained by any aggrieved party.
References
https://www.facebook.com/JusticeSardarRaza
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raza, Sardar Muhammad
1945 births
Living people
Chief Election Commissioners of Pakistan
Forman Christian College alumni
Hindkowan people
Pakistani judges
People from Abbottabad
University of the Punjab alumni
Chief Justices of the Peshawar High Court
Justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan