Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Sharif (جسٹس چوہدری محمد شریف) (March 10, 1928June 29, 2009) was a prominent judge of the

Lahore High Court The Lahore High Court () is a provincial court house based in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was established as a high court on 21 March 1882. The Lahore High Court has jurisdiction over the province of Punjab. The High Court's principal seat is ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Early life

Justice Sharif was born in a village near

Hoshiarpur Hoshiarpur () is a city and a Municipal corporations in India, municipal corporation in Hoshiarpur district in the Doaba region of the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the ...

district (

East Punjab East Punjab was a state of Dominion of India from 1947 until 1950. It consisted parts of the Punjab Province of British India that remained in India following the partition of the state between the new dominions of Pakistan and India by the ...

) on March 10, 1928. At the time of partition of India, he was a student in the Government College

. After migrating to

, he completed his education from SE College in

Bahawalpur Bahawalpur (Urdu: ; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 13th largest city of Pakistan and List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, 8th most populous city of Punjab. Bahawalpur is the capital of Bahawalpur Division. Founded in ...

and the

University of Punjab The University of the Punjab (UoP) is a public research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded in 1882, its international influence has made it one of the most prestigious universities in South Asia; being the oldest and largest publ ...

's Law College in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

Judicial career

After a short phase as a practicing lawyer, he started his career in judiciary as Civil Judge on March 23, 1953, by taking charge in

Chakwal Chakwal (Punjabi language, Punjabi and ) is a city in Chakwal District in the Potohar region of Punjab, Pakistan. It is the Largest cities of Pakistan, 48th largest city of Pakistan by population. Chakwal is located 90 kilometres south-west o ...

. Having served as the District and Session's Judge in

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

from 1970 to 1980, he took oath as judge of the

on the November 2, 1981, and retired from the High Court on March 10, 1990. Due to his spotless record of dauntless honesty, he was requested by the government to rejoin as a judge of the Special Court for Speedy Trials in

Multan Multan is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, fifth-most populous city in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. Located along the eastern bank of the Chenab River, it is the List of cities in Pakistan by populatio ...

where he served till 1994. During his long and illustrious career as a judge, Justice Sharif dealt with thousands of cases and gave several landmark judgments. Among these, the most prominent judgment was in the high-profile murder case of the former Chief Minister Ghulam Haider Wayne during which he faced and defied tremendous pressures and made a just decision. As a professional judge, Justice Sharif was known for his extraordinary efficiency, integrity and speedy decision making. During his tenure as a judge he was five times awarded the All

Certificate for giving judgment on maximum number of court cases. He set the highest standards of honesty and punctuality very few could claim.

Later years

Justice Sharif lived a simple and disciplined life as a devoted

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. He was very fond of

Iqbal Muhammad Iqbal (9 November 187721 April 1938) was a South Asian Islamic philosopher, poet and politician. Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philoso ...

's philosophy of self-esteem and faith. He remained an ardent swimmer, athlete and won several local tennis championships as a keen tennis player. He died on June 29, 2009,"" and is buried in

where he lived most of his later years in life. Justice Sharif was survived by his widow, two sons and two daughters. His autobiography is in final phases of being edited for publication.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharif, Chaudhry Muhammad 1928 births 2009 deaths Pakistani judges