Another SC judge falls sick

Cases against PMs

In 1978, Justice Waheeduddin Ahmed got ill while hearing appeal against capital punishment awarded to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

LAHORE: Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed (born August 28, 1954) is not the first adjudicator of the apex court to fall sick during the hearing of a high-profile case involving prime ministers.

Having served as special prosecutor of the Ehtesab Bureau in 1997, deputy prosecutor general of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in 2000 and special prosecutor, NAB, in 2001 to plead cases before accountability courts at Attock Fort and Rawalpindi, Rawalpindi-born former Lahore High Court chief justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed had also appeared as a lawyer for cricketer Salim Malik in a Melbourne court where a match-fixing inquiry against Australian cricket stars Shane Warne and Mark Waugh was held on January 8, 1999. He had cross-examined both Warne and Waugh, reportedly rattling the two great cricketers of their time.

Before Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, Justice Waheeduddin Ahmed had also suffered from a sudden ailment while he was part of a nine-member supreme court bench hearing an appeal against the capital punishment awarded to premier Zulfikar Ali Bhutto by the Justice Maulvi Mushtaq-led Lahore High Court on March 18, 1978 in the murder case of Nawab Mohammad Ahmad Khan Kasuri. However, the bench had chosen to proceed in Justice Waheeduddin’s absence despite the fact that he was desirous to join proceedings after treatment. Justice Waheeduddin Ahmed had also served as chief justice of West Pakistan High Court.

The bench was headed by Justice Anwarul Haq, who had earlier given judgment in favour of martial law immediately after being appointed as chief justice. Consequently, the capital punishment of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was upheld by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on February 6, 1979. While four judges           Justice Anwarul Haq, Justice Mohammad Akram, Karam Elahi Chauhan and Justice Nasim Hasan Shah  had voted in favour of Bhutto’s hanging, Justices Safdar Shah, Mohammad Haleem and Durrab Patel had voted against the capital punishment. The Supreme Court of Pakistan had begun hearing Bhutto’s appeal on May 20, 1978, and proceedings continued till December 23, 1978.

While Justice Waheeduddin’s son Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed also served the apex court, Justice Malik Muhammad Akram’s sons MNA Pervaiz Malik, Justice (retd) Qayyum and Dr Javed Akram also made a mark for themselves. It is imperative to note that during the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto case hearing, another SC judge Qaisar Khan had opted to retire on July 30, 1978 despite the fact that he was the only judge holding expertise in criminal law. It might be of some interest to readers that Justice Karam Elahi Chauhan had died on the day of his son’s marriage at his Upper Mall, Lahore, residence in 1982.

Another case in which an SC judge stepped down: In October 2016, the supreme court had delayed an appeal into a notorious blasphemy case against a death-row female Christian prisoner           Asia Bibi        after Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rahman stepped down, claiming a conflict of interest.

The son of Justice Hamoodur Rahman, who had served as chief justice of Pakistan in 1968, Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rahman, had stated that since he was part of the bench that heard the case of slain Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, he opted not to hear the case of Asia Bibi, which was related to Taseer.

Taseer’s assassin, Mumtaz Qadri, was hanged in 2016. The step to execute Qadri was hailed by liberals, but hardliners thronged the streets calling for Asia Bibi's death. Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rahman was chief justice of the Islamabad High Court which heard Qadri's appeal in 2011.