Maqbool Baqar () is a Pakistani jurist who has served as the Chief Justice of the

Sindh High Court The High Court of Sindh () ( Sindhi: سنڌ ھائي ڪورٽ) is the highest judicial institution of the Pakistani province of Sindh. Established in 1906, the Court situated in the provincial capital at Karachi. Apart from being the highest ...

and as a justice of the

Supreme Court of Pakistan The Supreme Court of Pakistan (; ''Adālat-e-Uzma Pākistān'') is the apex court in the Judiciary of Pakistan, judicial hierarchy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Established in accordance witPart VIIof the Constitution of Pakistan, it h ...

. He is the former the

Caretaker Caretaker may refer to: Occupations * Janitor (chiefly in the United States), a person who cleans and maintains buildings such as hospitals and schools * Property caretaker, a person who cares for a property * Caregiver or carer (UK), a person wh ...

Chief Minister of Sindh The chief minister of Sindh (, —), is the elected head of government of Sindh and serves alongside the Chief Secretary. Murad Ali Shah is the current Chief Minister of Sindh, serving since 26 February 2024. The chief minister is the head of ...

who served in this position from 17 August 2023 till 27 February 2024.

Early life and education

He was born on 5 April 1957 in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

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# ...

. He finished his

LLB A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from the

University of Karachi The University of Karachi (; informally Karachi University, KU, or UoK) is a public research university located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Established in June 1951 by an act of Parliament and as a successor to the University of Sindh (which is ...

in 1979.

Judicial career

He began his judicial career as an advocate in the

(SHC) in May 1981. He was elevated as an Additional Justice of the SHC on 26 August 2002 and was confirmed as a Justice of the SHC on 26 August 2003. He was appointed as the Chief Justice of the SHC on 20 September 2013 after the retirement of the previous Chief Justice, Mushir Alam. Due to his judgements in terrorism cases, Baqar was targeted by

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) , Army of Jhangvi) was a Deobandi terrorist organisation driven by a Takfiri Anti-Shia ideology based in Afghanistan. The LeJ was an offshoot of anti-Shia party Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP). The LeJ was founde ...

, a banned terrorist group, in a bomb explosion on 26 June 2013. Due to injuries suffered in the attack, he had to go through months of rehabilitative surgery. He was elevated to the

on 17 February 2015. In the Supreme Court, Baqar wrote many important judgements. One of these judgements was the one for the case of

Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari (born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician serving as the 14th president of Pakistan since 2024, having held the same office from 2008 to 2013. He is the president of Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians and was the ...

vs.

National Accountability Bureau The National Accountability Bureau (; abbreviated NAB) is Pakistan's anti-corruption agency. Its chairman is Nazir Ahmed Butt, a retired general. History The Ehtesab Act, 1997 established an Ehtesab Cell, charged with the investigation and pr ...

(NAB), which held that NAB had exceeded its powers in its investigation of former

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

Asif Ali Zardari. He also wrote the dissenting note in the case of Qazi Faez Isa vs. Federation of Pakistan, where he held that the presidential reference against Justice

Qazi Faez Isa Qazi Faez Isa (, ; born 26 October 1959) is a Pakistani jurist who served as the 29th Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) from 17 September 2023 to 25 October 2024. He was appointed as a justice of the Supreme Court in 2014, having previously ser ...

was politically motivated. He retired from the Supreme Court on 4 April 2022 and became a visiting professor at the

. On 19 July 2024, his name was to be considered by the

Judicial Commission of Pakistan The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (abbr. JCP) is a national commission for appointment of the superior judiciary, consisting of the Supreme Court, the Federal Shariat Court and the High Courts, of Pakistan. The Chief Justice of Pakistan is t ...

for an appointment as an ad-hoc judge of the Supreme Court. However, on 18 July, he formally refused the offer, citing personal and domestic reasons.

Later career

On 14 August 2023,

Murad Ali Shah Sayyid, Syed Murad Ali Shah (; born 8 November 1962) is a Pakistani politician and structural engineer who is currently serving as the Chief Minister of Sindh province of Pakistan and a member of the Sindh Assembly. It is his third term as Chi ...

, the outgoing

, and

Rana Ansar Rana Ansar is a Pakistani politician who had been the Leader of the Opposition in Sindh from July 2023 to August 2023 and a member of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh from August 2018 to August 2023 and from June 2013 to May 2018. Early life a ...

, the outgoing Leader of the Opposition, both agreed to propose Baqar's name for the position of

Chief Minister of Sindh. He took oath on 17 August 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baqar, Maqbool 1957 births Living people Supreme Court of Pakistan Chief ministers of Sindh