Muhammad Munir (; 1895–1979) was the second

Chief Justice of Pakistan The chief justice of Pakistan ( initials as CJP; , ''Munsif-e-Āzam Pākistān'') is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and is the highest-ranking officer of the Pakistani judiciary. The Federal Court of Pakistan was establis ...

serving from 1954 to 1960.

Background

Munir was born into a Kakkyzai Pashtun family and obtained his degree of master's in English Literature from Government College University Lahore, he joined Punjab University Law College to earn his L.L.B. He started his career as a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

in 1921. He moved to

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 ...

in 1922.

Career

Munir was appointed assistant advocate-general of

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 ...

in 1937, and first president of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal of British India in 1940. He was elevated to the Bench of Judicature at Lahore in 1942. He and Justice Din Muhammad represented the All India Muslim League on the Punjab Boundary Commission in 1947. The following year he was made the chairman of the Pakistan Pay Commission. In 1949, he was made the chief justice of the Lahore High Court.

Chief Justice

In 1954, Munir was made the chief justice of the Federal Court, chief justice of

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# ...

. Besides being the chief justice, he also remained the chairman of the Delimitation Commission from June 1956 to July 1958. He retired on 2 May 1960. In the major ''

Federation of Pakistan v. Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan ''Federation of Pakistan v. Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan'' (1955) was a court case of the Dominion of Pakistan. The Federal Court of Pakistan (now the Supreme Court of Pakistan) ruled in favor of the Governor General of Pakistan's dismissal of the 1st ...

'' case, Munir invoked the

doctrine of necessity The doctrine of necessity is the basis on which extraordinary actions by administrative authority, which are designed to restore order or uphold fundamental constitutional principles, are considered to be lawful even if such an action contravenes ...

, validating the dissolution of the first

Constituent Assembly of Pakistan The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan was the supreme federal legislature of the Dominion of Pakistan. It was established in August 1947 with the primary tasks of framing Constitution of Pakistan of 1956, a constitution; and serving as an interim ...

. The assembly was dissolved on 24 October 1954, by Governor General Ghulam Muhammad, an alumnus of

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University is a Collegiate university, collegiate, Central university (India), central, and Research university, research university located in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Kh ...

. He has been widely criticized for validating the dissolution, although some of the Pakistani politicians had called for its dissolution. Due to Munir’s ruling in the case, he has been perceived as a controversial figure, primarily due to his doctrine legitimizing the further dissolutions of assemblies. He also validated 1958 Pakistani military coup by invoking doctrine of necessity.

Writings

Justice Munir also wrote a book ''From Jinnah to Zia'', arguing that Jinnah stood for a secular state.

References

1895 births 1979 deaths Chief justices of Pakistan Government College University, Lahore alumni Pakistani judges People from Amritsar Pakistani critics of religions {{Pakistan-law-bio-stub

Background

Career

Chief Justice

Writings

See also

References