LAHORE - Former Chief Justice of Pakistan Nasim Hasan Shah passed away on Tuesday in Lahore after a prolonged illness. He was 86. He is survived by three daughters and a widow.
Funeral prayers of Shah will be offered at 58-D, Sir Syed Road, Gulberg-III, on Wednesday (today) at 9am.
Justice Nasim Shah was born to Syed Mohsin Shah in Lahore on April 15, 1929. He also served as the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman.
The inspiring man, with a height of 56 inches only, overcame his handicap by becoming the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. He worked in this capacity from April 17, 1993, to April 14, 1994.
He possessed a brilliant academic career, having doctorate of law (with distinction) from Paris University. He had a successful legal practice when he was appointed as a high court judge at the age of 39. He retired as the chief justice of Pakistan at the age of 65, the longest tenure of a judge in the history of the subcontinent.
Judges and senior lawyers of the country expressed sorrow and grief over his demise and called him a role model for all the people who fail to actively perform in the society owing to some complexes.
Pakistan Bar Council Vice Chairman Azam Nazir Tarar said Dr Shah was a great man who overcame his disability and earned a good career. He was a role model for others, Azam Nazir said.
Activism Penal Chairman Azhar Siddique said that Dr Nasim Hasan Shah was one of the legends of legal fraternity. He always worked for the rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution. Azhar Siddique, however, said Dr Shah’s decision in Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s case was against the norms of justice, adding the deceased himself had admitted negation of right to free trial in that case, which had become part of the Constitution through Article 10-A of the 18th Constitutional Amendment.