Asif Saeed Khan Khosa
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Asif Saeed Khan Khosa ( ur, ; born 21 December 1954) is a Pakistani
jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...
who served as the 26th
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 ...
from 18 January 2019 to 20 December 2019. He joined the Supreme Court as a judge on 18 February 2010 and prior to that served as judge of the Lahore High Court. During his tenure as Justice of Supreme Court he was part of the benches who disqualified two prime ministers Yousuf Raza Gillani and
Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi language, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime ...
. During his tenure as Chief Justice, he nullified the
Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...
government's decision to extend
Qamar Javed Bajwa General Qamar Javed Bajwa ( ur, ; born 11 November 1960) is a retired Pakistani army general who served as the tenth Chief of the Army Staff of Pakistan from 29 November 2016 to 29 November 2022. In 2018 he was ranked 68th in the ''Forbes' ...
as Chief of Army Staff (COAS) for another three-year term and directed the government to put the tenure into law in under six months while giving the temporary extension of six months to Bajwa as COAS. This was first time in history of Pakistan that the extension or the tenure of an army chief was questioned by the Supreme Court. Under his supervision a special court in Islamabad sentenced a former military dictator
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 ...
to death.


Early life and family

Khosa was born in Dera Ghazi Khan,
Punjab, Pakistan Punjab (; , ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in central-eastern region of the country, Punjab is the second-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the largest province by population. It shares land borders with the ...
. He belongs to Khosa tribe which is a Baloch tribe in Pakistan. Asif Saeed Khan Khosa passed his matriculation in 1969 from the Multan Board, securing fifth position. He was admitted to Government College University in
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. ...
for intermediate and secured first position in the Lahore Board. Then in 1973 he appeared for the B.A exams from Government College Lahore at Punjab University and secured first position. During his education in Punjab university he was inspired from the thoughts of Syed Abul A'ala Maududi and Maulana
Naeem Siddiqui Maulana Naeem Siddiqui (1916 – 25 September 2002) was a Pakistani Islamic scholar, writer and politician. He was among the founder-members of the Jamaat-e-Islami and a close associate of Abul A'la Maududi and Amin Ahsan Islahi. Early life a ...
. He secured a National Scholarship Award. He did his master's degree in English Language and Literature at the
University of the Punjab The University of the Punjab (Urdu, pnb, ), also referred to as Punjab University, is a public, research, coeducational higher education institution located in Lahore, Pakistan. Punjab University is the oldest public university in Pakistan. ...
in 1975. He was then admitted to
Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...
and did his
Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...
with specialization in Public International Law. Later he was called to the Bar on 26 July 1979 at the
Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...
, London. Khosa is the son-in-law of former Chief Justice of Pakistan
Nasim Hasan Shah Nasim Hasan Shah (Urdu: ) (15 April 1929 – 3 February 2015) 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 Mini ...
and brother of retired
federal secretary The federal secretary (also referred to as the secretary to the Government of Pakistan) is the highest-ranking position in the Government of Pakistan, occupied by the most senior civil servant in a specific ministry or division. The secretary is ...
Nasir Mahmood Khosa Nasir Mahmood Khosa is a retired Pakistani civil servant from Dera Ghazi Khan who belonged to the Pakistan Administrative Service and served in BPS-22 grade, the highest attainable rank for a serving officer. He was promoted to the rank of Feder ...
. He is also the cousin of former Governor Punjab Latif Khosa.


Judicial career

Before becoming a judge, he was an advocate of the Supreme Court Bar Association and Lahore High Court Bar Association. He was called to the Bar at the Honourable Society of
Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...
,
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
on 26 July 1979. Barrister Khosa was elevated to the Bench and appointed as Lahore High Court Judge in May 1998. When General
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 ...
declared a
state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...
in November 2007, suspending the constitution and demanded the judges of the superior judiciary retake their oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO), Justice Khosa like then-Chief Justice
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 ...
, and many other senior judges, refused to retake the oath. They were suspended from their duties. On 18 August 2008, he was restored to his prior position as High Court Justice as a result of a lawyer's movement to restore the "deposed judges". He was among the larger bench of seven Supreme Court justices that was hearing Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani's contempt of court case. In that case Supreme Court gave its judgement that had an additional attachment of Justice Khosa's extraordinary six-page note that became the subject of headlines in May, 2012. Justice Khosa quoting Kahlil Gibran wrote about the "Pity of the Nation" that became subject of media coverage all over the country. He also headed the larger bench of the Supreme Court that was hearing the "Panama Case" related to the alleged money laundering and off-shore illegal investment by former Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi language, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime ...
and his family. Remarking on article 62 and 63 of the constitution in the "Panama Case" hearing he said:
This case is the first of its kind… we know the gravity of a declaration by the court and its affect for both the parties, saying that someone was not honest. But we have to lay down parameters, otherwise, except for the Jamaat-i-Islami chief Sirajul Haq, no one will survive.
As article 62 and 63 are related to truthfulness and honesty of parliamentarians, it became a matter of controversy in the media, because Justice Khosa was pointing out that there is no truthful and honest parliamentarian except
Siraj-ul-Haq Siraj ul Haq ( ur, سراج الحق; born 5 September 1962) is a Pakistani politician who was elected as the chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, a religious political party in Pakistan which seeks to establish an Islamic legal system. He also served a ...
. Justice Khosa had to withdraw his remarks, after he reconsidered them. He said he was sorry for his such remarks. Justice Khosa is being considered the most relentless judge in larger bench of the "Panama Case". The final verdict issued by the larger bench on the "Panama Case" against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family has proposed a JIT within 60 days. In the final verdict Justice Khosa and Justice Gulzar in their remarks disqualified Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi language, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime ...
from running for office. Their statement says:
The Election Commission of Pakistan is directed to issue a notification of disqualification of respondent No. 1 namely Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif from being a member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) with effect from the date of announcement of the present judgment .
On 2 January 2019, President Arif Alvi approved Khosa's appointment as the next
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 ...
.


References


External links


Supreme Court of Pakistan
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Khosa, Asif Saeed Khan 1954 births Living people Baloch people Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Government College University, Lahore alumni Justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan Pakistani judges University of the Punjab alumni Chief justices of Pakistan