Jawwad Sajjad Khawaja (Urdu: جواد ایس خواجہ; born 10 September 1950), known professionally as Jawwad S. Khawaja, is a Pakistani jurist, and former professor of law at the Lahore University of Management Sciences, who served as the 23rd Chief Justice of Pakistan. He was nominated for the position by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on 17 August 2015, and approved to take office by President Mamnoon Hussain on the same day.[1][2]
Jawwad Sajjad Khawaja | |
|---|---|
جواد سجاد خواجہ | |
| 23rd Chief Justice of Pakistan | |
| In office 15 August 2015 – 9 September 2015 | |
| Nominated by | Nawaz Sharif |
| Appointed by | Mamnoon Hussain |
| Preceded by | Nasir-ul-Mulk |
| Succeeded by | Anwar Zaheer Jamali |
| Senior Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan | |
| In office 6 July 2014 – 16 August 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Nasir-ul-Mulk |
| Succeeded by | Anwar Zaheer Jamali |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jawwad Sajjad Khawaja 10 September 1950 Wazirabad, Punjab, Pakistan |
| Citizenship | Pakistan |
| Spouse | Bina Jawwad (m. 1973) |
| Relations | Rashta Khawaja (sister), Omar Khawaja (brother), Hasan Muttaqi Khawaja (brother), Tahira Khawaja (sister) |
| Children | 4 (including Haider) |
| Residence(s) | Lahore, Pakistan |
| Alma mater | Lawrence College Ghora Gali Aitchison College Forman Christian College University Punjab University Law College (LLB) University of California, Berkeley, United States (LLM) |
Early life and education
editJawwad S. Khawaja was born in Wazirabad, Punjab to Kashmiri immigrants.[3] He is the youngest of five siblings and grew up with two older brothers and sisters. Khawaja received his early education from the Mission High School in Wazirabad as well as Lawrence College Ghora Gali near Murree, and matriculated from Aitchison College and Forman Christian College University, both in Lahore. He eventually went on to get his LLB from the Law College at Punjab University and his LLM from the University of California, Berkeley.[1]
Professional career
editHe started his legal practice as an advocate of the Lahore High Court in 1975 and was a partner at Cornelius, Lane and Mufti, one of the largest law firms in Pakistan.[4] In 1999, he became a judge of the Lahore High Court but resigned in 2007 in response to the maltreatment of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on 9 March.[5] He joined the Law and Policy Department of the Lahore University of Management Sciences in August 2007 and served as the head of the department from October 2007 to May 2009 when he joined the Supreme Court of Pakistan.[4]
Important court decisions
editJustice Khawaja was on the bench which decided the Sindh High Court Bar Association case, in which the Court declared the state of emergency imposed by President General Pervez Musharraf on 3 November 2007 to be unconstitutional and restored most of the judges who were forced to vacate office that day.[6] He wrote a concurrent opinion in the case declaring the National Reconciliation Ordinance to be void ab initio,[7] and the leading opinion in the suo motu case ordering wholesale giant Makro-Habib to restore a playground in Jamshed Town on which it had established an outlet.[8]
Justice Khawaja was one of those six judges who gave a dissenting judgement against the military courts in Pakistan, that decision came just few days before his beginning of term as CJP.[9]
Just before finishing his term as CJP, he headed a bench which issued a landmark decision directing Government of Pakistan to adopt Urdu as an official language according to 1973 Constitution. The decision was read out in Urdu by the CJP.[10]
Post-retirement
editAfter retiring as Chief Justice, he went back to LUMS as a scholar-in-residence.[3][11]
Personal life
editKhawaja has been married to his first cousin, Bina Jawwad since 1973. The two share four children together; three daughters (Ismet, Zainub and Saleema) and a son, Haider. He lives with his wife and children at their farmhouse in Bedian Road, Lahore, having founded a school over there called “Harsukh”, which houses the local young and underprivileged children living nearby. He also owns a residence in Islamabad.
Khawaja’s brother, Hasan Muttaqi Khawaja (1946-2019), was married to the daughter of newspaper magnate and founder of the Jang Group, Mir Khalil-ur-Rehman, until his death in February 2019.
References
edit- ^ a b "Honourable Mr. Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja". The Supreme Court of Pakistan. Archived from the original on 1 February 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
- ^ "President approves Justice Jawad S Khawaja as next CJ". Dunya News. 5 August 2015. Archived from the original on 20 March 2020.
- ^ a b Khan, Asad Rahim (14 May 2016). "Jawwad S Khawaja: Poetic justice". Herald. Dawn Media Group. Archived from the original on 16 May 2016.
- ^ a b "PTH Exclusive: Interview with J. Jawwad Khawaja". Pak Tea House. 24 April 2010. Archived from the original on 19 November 2018.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Six Pak judges resign in protest". The Telegraph. PTI. 19 March 2007. Archived from the original on 20 March 2020.
- ^ Sindh High Court Bar Association through its Secretary v. Federation of Pakistan through Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice, Islamabad and Others [2009] PKSC 8 (31 July 2009), Supreme Court (Pakistan)
- ^ Mobashir Hassan and Others v. Federation of Pakistan, etc. [2009] PKSC 13 (16 December 2009), Supreme Court (Pakistan)
- ^ "SC orders Makro to vacate playground". Dawn. 19 December 2009. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024.
- ^ "Six judges declare 21st Amendment, military courts illegal". Dawn. 6 August 2015. Archived from the original on 20 May 2024.
- ^ Haider, Irfan (8 September 2015). "Supreme Court orders govt to adopt Urdu as official language". Dawn. Archived from the original on 1 December 2023.
- ^ "Mr. Jawwad S. Khawaja". LUMS. Archived from the original on 21 May 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2020.