Aziz Mushabber Ahmadi (A. M. Ahmadi) (born 25 March 1932) was the 26th

Chief Justice of India The chief justice of India ( IAST: ) is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of India as well as the highest-ranking officer of the Indian Judiciary. The Constitution of India grants power to the president of India to appoint, in consultation ...

. After serving as a judge in the

Gujarat High Court The Gujarat High Court is the High Court of the state of Gujarat. It was established on 1 May 1960 under the ''Bombay Re-organisation Act, 1960'' after the state of Gujarat split from Bombay State. The seat of the court is Ahmedabad. The pr ...

, Ahmadi was appointed judge to the Supreme Court in 1988. He was then elevated to the post of Chief Justice, and served from 1994 to 1997. He served as Chancellor at the

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

for two terms.

Judicial career

Having received Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.), Ahmadi joined the Bar in 1954. He eventually was appointed judge to the City Civil & Sessions Court of

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per ...

in 1964. During this time, Ahmadi was appointed as Secretary of the Legal Affairs of the State of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

in 1974, which soon led to an appointment as Judge of the

in 1976. As Judge of the

, Ahmadi worked as Chairman of various advisory boards for: *Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities *Prevention of Black Marketing *Maintenance of Supplies of Essential Commodities. Also, he worked as a Member of the Ravi & Beas Waters Disputes Tribunal under the Rajiv-Longowal Settlement (Punjab Settlement). Ultimately this led to an appointment as a Justice in the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...

in December 1988. After six years, Ahmadi was appointed as

in October 1994. Ahmadi became the third Muslim ever to serve as Chief Justice of India. After serving for two and a half years, he eventually stepped down to retire in March 1997. Justice Ahmadi as Chief Justice of India on 13 September 1996 in a judgement authored by Justice Majmundar, in the UCC case, concurred with the view that the offence fell within the scope of section 304A,IPC and not within the scope of section 304 (II), IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder). Later the accused were tried user section 304A and were convicted and sentenced to 2 years punishment, further the NGO's raised a hue and cry and persuaded the government to file a curative petition in the Supreme Court which was decided by a 5 judge bench, which upheld the view taken by the Justice Ahmadi bench, and dismissed the petition.

Foreign recognition

Among many recognitions include: *Member of the

American Inns of Court American Inns of Court (AIC) are designed to improve the skills, professionalism and ethics of the bench and bar. An American Inn of Court is an amalgam of judges, lawyers, and in some cases, law professors and law students. Each Inn meets approx ...

(May 1995) *Honorary Master

Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher ca ...

of the Honourable Society of

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's I ...

, London (November 1996) *Degree of Doctor of Laws (

Honoris Causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

) conferred on by

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_lab ...

, England. (July 1998) *Nominated on International Committees: **Human Rights violation in

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(United Nations) **To assist the judiciary in

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast� ...

(

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordan ...

) **To review the state of relations between the judiciary, the legal profession and the executive and violation of

human rights in Zimbabwe There were widespread reports of systematic and escalating violations of human rights in Zimbabwe under the regime of Robert Mugabe and his party, ZANU-PF, between 1980 and 2017. According to human rights organisations such as Amnesty Internati ...

(

International Bar Association The International Bar Association (IBA), founded in 1947, is a bar association of international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. The IBA currently has a membership of more than 80,000 individual lawyers and 190 bar associat ...

)

Post-Retirement Career

Chancellor at Aligarh

After stepping down from the supreme court, Ahmadi became

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

at the renowned

. In 2007, Ahmadi was re-elected Chancellor of Aligarh for three years. Since entering academics, he has been invited to speak at various universities and forums worldwide. Particularly in India, he has used his status to speak out on political issues such as minority rights.

Muslim Rights

Using his status, Ahmadi also continues to speak out for Muslim Rights in India, himself being a Muslim. Today he remains active in Indian politics as an advocate of minority rights, most recently through a book entitled ''A Guide To Uplift Minorities'' by the city-based Human Welfare Trus

Putting emphasis on education, Ahmadi has frequently mentioned that the vast Muslim population of India is struggling to put children in school. He encourages federal and state governments to solve this problem, stating that, "the country simply cannot afford to have a certain percentage of population unable to contribute to the country's development.".Keynote Address at the National Convention On Empowerment of Muslims through the Constitution of India
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Arbitrations

He is a sought after arbitrator in high value domestic as well as international arbitration matters.

References

External links

* ttp://www.twocircles.net/2008aug27/book_review_guide_uplift_minorities.html Book review: A guide to uplift minorities {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmadi, Aziz Mushabber 1932 births Living people People from Surat 20th-century Indian Muslims 21st-century Indian Muslims 20th-century Indian judges Chief justices of India Judges of the Gujarat High Court