Nasim Hasan Shah

Who is Nasim Hasan Shah?

Nasim Hasan Shah {Urdu: نسیم حسن شاہ was born in Lahore on April 15, 1929 to Syed Mohsin Shah, an eminent advocate and political activist, Justice Dr. Nasim Hasan Shah, a former Chief Justice of Pakistan, notorious in Pakistan for his role in the verdict against Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, a verdict resulting in death penalty that is widely believed in Pakistan to be a judicial murder.

His other notable verdict was restoration of the parliament of Pakistan dissolved by then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan. The Supreme Court held that dissolution order was based on an incorrect appreciation of the role assigned to the president and of the powers vested in him by the constitution. The Prime Minister is not answerable to the President. In fact, it is the president who is obliged to act on the advice of the Prime Minister except when he enjoys discretionary powers. An inspiring man physically 56 inches tall and 50 inches in girth, he overcame his handicap to become the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan from April 17, 1993 to April 14, 1994.After a brilliant academic career and a Doctorate of Law from Paris University, he had a successful legal practice when he was appointed a High Court Judge at the age of 39, and retired from Supreme Court at 65, the longest tenure by any judge in the history of the Indo-Pak subcontinent.