Salman Akram Raja () is a Pakistani attorney and politician who has provided

legal counsel 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 wel ...

to numerous prominent Pakistani political figures, including past

Prime Minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan (, Roman Urdu, romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Cabinet of Pakistan, cabinet, desp ...

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who served as the 12th Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms, first serving from 1990 to 1993, then ...

and

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi (born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician, philanthropist, and former cricketer who served as the 19th prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022. He was the founder of the political party Pak ...

. He has been serving as the secretary general of PTI since 7 September 2024 and as head of legal affairs for the party since 21 August 2024.

Early life and education

Raja was born to Raja Muhammad Akram, who was a senior advocate 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 ...

and a member of the Lahore Bar Association, into a

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

Rajput Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

family of the Bangial clan with roots in the village of Arazi Hasnal in the

Rawalpindi District Rawalpindi District (Punjabi language, Punjabi and ) is a Districts of Pakistan, district located in the northernmost part of the Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab province of Pakistan. Parts of the district form part of the Islamabad Rawalpindi metropo ...

. He completed his B.A at

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, and earned his

LL.M A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

degree from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

and the

School of Oriental and African Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

Legal career

Raja has been practising law since 1992 and is an advocate at the

. He is widely recognised as a leader in

dispute resolution Dispute resolution or dispute settlement is the process of resolving disputes between parties. The term ''dispute resolution'' is '' conflict resolution'' through legal means. Prominent venues for dispute settlement in international law incl ...

, specialising in

corporate A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as "born out of s ...

taxation A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal person, legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to Pigouvian tax, regulate and reduce nega ...

commercial banking A commercial bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make a profit. It can also refer to a bank or a division of a larger bank that deals with whol ...

, and

competition law Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust ...

. With extensive experience in

constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

and

administrative law Administrative law is a division of law governing the activities of government agency, executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law includes executive branch rulemaking (executive branch rules are generally referred to as "regul ...

, he has represented clients in notable cases before the Supreme Court of Pakistan, involving

constitutional interpretation Judicial interpretation is the way in which the judiciary construes the law, particularly constitutional documents, legislation and frequently used vocabulary. This is an important issue in some common law jurisdictions such as the United St ...

. Raja was part of the legal team that advocated for Nawaz Sharif during the

Panama Papers case The Panama Papers case (officially titled ''Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi v. Muhammad Nawaz Sharif''), or the Panamagate case, was a 2017 landmark decision by the Supreme Court of Pakistan that disqualified Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakista ...

. Additionally, Raja provided legal representation for

in the

Nikah In Islamic law, marriage is accomplished through the marriage contract, known as a () or more specifically, the bride's acceptance of the groom's dowry (''mahr'') and the witnessing of her acceptance. The contract has rights and obligatio ...

during

Iddah In Islam, ’''iddah'' or ''iddat'' (; "period of waiting") is the period a woman must observe after the death of her husband or after a divorce, during which she may not marry another man. One of its main purposes is to remove any doubt as to ...

case, among other legal matters. He represented the PTI in the

Reserved seats case ''Sunni Ittehad Council, Faisalabad, etc. v Election Commission of Pakistan'', informally referred to as the Reserved seats case, was a court case which involved the high bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP), notably comprising Chief Just ...

at the

, where he argued in favour of granting parliamentary reserved seats to PTI members. The court ruled in favour of PTI's position, which was seen as a significant outcome for the party.

Academic career

Raja has served as a

Visiting Lecturer In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting scientist, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic fo ...

in Company and Commercial Law at the Law School of

Lahore University of Management Sciences Lahore University of Management Sciences, also known by its acronym LUMS, is a Private university, private research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded in 1985, it is ranked as one of the most prestigious modern Li ...

, Pakistan's leading university, focusing his expertise on

Constitutional Law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...

Political career

Raja was a candidate for NA-128 Lahore-XII in the

2024 Pakistani general election General elections, originally scheduled to be held in 2023, were held in Pakistan on 8 February 2024 to elect the members of the List of members of the 16th National Assembly of Pakistan, 16th National Assembly of Pakistan, National Assembly. The ...

, running as a PTI-affiliated independent candidate. Independent journalists such as Secunder Kermani expected him to overwhelmingly win the seat, based on voter interviews. However, while Form 45 from the

Election Commission of Pakistan The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is an independent, autonomous, permanent and constitutionally established federal body responsible for organizing and conducting elections to the national parliament, provincial legislatures, local g ...

showed Raja with a decisive lead, the more final Form 47 reported

Aun Chaudhry Muhammad Aun Saqlain Chaudhry is a Pakistani politician who has been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan since February 2024. He was also an advisor to the Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif on tourism and sports from April 2022 ...

Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party The Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP; , ) is a Pakistani political party. It was founded by Aleem Khan and on 8 June 2023. It was registered with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on 5 October 2023. History The pre-existing tensions b ...

as having won 172,576 votes to Raja's 159,024 votes. Raja, PTI supporters, and independent journalists claimed the ECP Form 47 results showed clear evidence of rigging by the Army, and 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 ...

issued a stay on a final declaration of the results by ECP until a hearing could be fixed to investigate the matter. He was appointed as head of legal affairs for PTI on 21 August 2024, and was later appointed as the secretary general of PTI on 7 September 2024.

Views

Human rights and women's rights

Raja is recognised for his advocacy for human rights and women's rights in Pakistan. Referring to the 2021 Minar-e-Pakistan mass sexual assault involving a female social media celebrity, he commented that contrary to Pakistan's perceived cultural values of decency, the perpetrators at

Minar-e-Pakistan Minar-e-Pakistan (; ) is a public monument tower located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. The tower was built during 1960–1968 on the site where on 23 March 1940, the All-India Muslim League passed the Lahore Resolution which was later called the ...

displayed a lack of self-restraint, deviating from societal expectations to protect the victim, or any TikToker. Raja criticised the reactions across various media platforms, which swiftly shifted blame onto the victim, labelling her as an attention-seeking conspirator against Pakistan. He noted how a superficial examination of approved Pakistani textbooks under the Single National Curriculum since 2020 reflects a normative portrayal of girls and women in hijab or purdah, who abstain from activities like music and singing, as the idealised standard of a 'good woman/child', a standard the assaulted woman failed to meet. This portrayal contrasts with Raja's own upbringing and the freedoms he wants for his daughters, who are musicians.

Writings

Raja has written articles and

op-ed An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page," is a type of written prose commonly found in newspapers, magazines, and online publications. They usually represent a writer's strong and focused opinion on an issue of relevance to a targeted a ...

s for English-language newspapers such as ''

Dawn News Dawn News HD is a Pakistani 24-hour Urdu news channel. Based in Karachi, the station is a subsidiary of Pakistan Herald Publications Limited (PHPL), Pakistan's largest English-language media group. The test transmission of the station occurr ...

'' and ''

The News International ''The News International'', published in broadsheet size, is one of the largest English language newspapers in Pakistan. It is published daily from Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi/ Islamabad. An overseas edition is published from London th ...

.'' His academic publications include: *'Islamisation of Laws in Pakistan,' ''South Asian Journal'', vol. 1, no. 2, October–December 2003, pp. 94–109.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raja, Salman Akram Living people 21st-century Pakistani lawyers Pakistani barristers Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of SOAS University of London Harvard Law School alumni People from Rawalpindi District Year of birth missing (living people)