Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui | |
|---|---|
| سعید الزمان صدیقی | |
 | |
| 31stGovernor of Sindh | |
| In office 11 November 2016 – 11 January 2017 | |
| President | Mamnoon Hussain |
| Prime Minister | Nawaz Sharif |
| Preceded by | Ishratul Ibad Agha Siraj Durrani(Acting) |
| Succeeded by | Muhammad Zubair Umar |
| 15thChief Justice of Pakistan | |
| In office 1 July 1999 – 26 January 2000 | |
| Appointed by | Muhammad Rafiq Tarar |
| Preceded by | Ajmal Mian |
| Succeeded by | Irshad Hasan Khan |
| 7th Chief JusticeSindh High Court | |
| In office 5 November 1990 – 21 May 1992 | |
| Preceded by | Sajjad Ali Shah |
| Succeeded by | Nasir Aslam Zahid |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1937-12-01)1 December 1937 Lucknow,United Provinces,British India (now inUttar Pradesh,India) |
| Died | 11 January 2017(2017-01-11) (aged 79) Karachi,Sindh,Pakistan |
| Spouse | Ashraf Saeeduzaman Siddique |
| Children | Afnan Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui |
| Parent | Muhammad Naeem SiddiqueBasheer-un-nisa |
| Alma mater | University of Dhaka University of Karachi |
Saeed Uz Zaman Siddiqui (Urdu:سعید الزمان صدیقی; 1 December 1939 – 11 January 2017) (pronunciation 'sa'eed -uz- zam'an'; alternatively / officiallySaiduzzaman Siddiqui) was aPakistanijurist and legislator of great prominence who formerly served as the 15thChief Justice of Pakistan and, prior to that, the 7thChief Justice of the Sindh High Court.[1] At the time of his death, he was serving as the 31stGovernor of Sindh.
Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui was born in a middle-class, educatedUrdu-speaking family and received his school education atLucknow (in modernUttar Pradesh) and also was educated atCalcutta. Justice Siddiqui passedMatriculation from the Board of Secondary Education fromDhaka,East Pakistan in 1952. In 1954, Justice Siddiqui obtained intermediate inEngineering sciences from theUniversity of Dacca. Siddiqui worked at the Physics Department, and taught undergraduate physics laboratory courses. Thereafter, Siddiqui moved toKarachi,West-Pakistan and attendedKarachi University in 1954. There, at Karachi University, Siddiqui obtainedB.A. inPhilosophy andL.L.B from theUniversity of Karachi in 1958. In 1960, Justice Siddiqui started legal practice at theSindh High Court.
Justice Siddiqui was awarded honorary membership of the Judicial fraternity ofAustralia andCanada after the news of his resignation from the office of theChief Justice was made public in January 2000, after his refusal to take the Oath under thePCO (Provisional Constitutional Order), which was an extra-constitutionally prescribed Oath for the Judges by the military regime ofPervez Musharraf. Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui received a letter of commendation from the Judiciary of the United Kingdom and was inducted in the roles of Judges of eminence by the British Judiciary for his stand in the cause of the independence of Pakistan's Judiciary, his stand was later glorified by theLawyers' Movement in Pakistan which helped Chief JusticeIftikhar Chaudhary's restoration.
Justice Saeeduzzaman joined the Bar in February 1961. He enrolled as Advocate of High Court of West Pakistan in November 1963, and enrolled as Advocate of Supreme Court of Pakistan in November 1969). He was elected Joint Secretary of Karachi High Court Bar Association in 1967. He was elected Member of Managing Committee of Karachi High Court Bar Association for the year 1968–69. In 1977, he was elected Honorary Secretary of High Court Bar Library and continued as such until begin elevated as aJudge ofSindh High Court on 5 May 1980. He was appointedChief Justice of theSindh High Court on 5 November 1990 and asJudge ofSupreme Court of Pakistan on 23 May 1992.
He was appointed theChief Justice of Pakistan/Chairman Pakistan Law Commission w.e.f. 1 July 1999 till 1 December 2005. He was theChief Justice of Pakistan when the1999 military coup d'état was staged by then-Chairman of theJoint Chiefs of Staff Committee andChief of Army Staff GeneralPervez Musharraf. Notably, he defied the request given by Musharraf via theLaw Minister and Legal AdviserSharifuddin Pirzada to take a new oath under theProvisional Constitutional Order (PCO) saying that: "Taking an oath under the PCO, in my opinion, will be a deviation from the oath I had taken to defend the constitution of 1973". The PCO not only negated the independence of the judiciary and democratic norms, but also prolonged the martial law by nullifying the effect of any judgement given againstPresidentPervez Musharraf's government.
As a consequence of this, he was forced to step down from his position by the military regime. His tenure time period was shortened due to his refusal to take the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) Oath, prescribed by General Pervez Musharraf to legitimize theLegal Framework Order, 2002. After a long discussion with the four Army generals sent to his residence by General Musharraf; namely, Lieutenant-General (Retired)Moinuddin Haider, who wasInterior Minister, then-Lieutenant-GeneralEhsan ul Haq, Core-commander of theXI Corps, Lieutenant-General (retired)Mahmud Ahmed, then-Director General of theISI andBrigadier-General (retired)Javed Ashraf Bajwa; Chief Justice Siddiqui refused to take theOath after which the Generals left. On the orders ofGHQ he, along with his family were put intohouse arrest.
On 25 August 2008,Nawaz Sharif announced that Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui would bePakistan Muslim League (N) andJamaat-e-Islami nominee to replace Pervez Musharraf asPresident of Pakistan.[2] He lost the 6 September2008 Pakistani presidential election, by 153 votes toAsif Ali Zardari, who was elected President of Pakistan.[3][4] The PML-N although in power wanted Siddiqui as a unanimous candidate as he was the only nonpartisan candidate contesting this election of 2008. Justice Siddiqui was again selected for running as the candidate in the2013 Pakistani presidential election, but at the last moment his name was replaced byMamnoon Hussain as Siddiqui never joined the PML-N and was a neutral candidate.[5] He was supported byBaloch nationalists.[6]
On 9 November 2016,Nawaz Sharif contacted Justice Siddiqui and asked him to accept the position of theGovernor, in the wake of event which followed the dismissal of Dr.Ishratul Ibad Khan. Justice Siddiqui was sworn in as the 31stGovernor of Sindh on 11 November 2016. He died in office exactly two months later.
Siddiqui contractedpneumonia and was hospitalised in early November 2016. He returned to theGovernor House on 11 December 2016 and died on 11 January 2017 as a serving governor when he contracted another pneumonia on his healthy right lung. Hisstate funeral was organised in the Governor House, making him the second person in the history of the country to receive a state funeral afterMuhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. He was 77.[7][8][9]
In 2018, Siddiqui was posthumously awarded theSitara-i-Imtiaz - Pakistan's third highest civilian honour - by PresidentMamnoon Hussain.[10]
{{cite web}}:|first= has generic name (help)| Preceded by | Governor of Sindh 2016–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Chief Justice of Pakistan 1999–2000 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court 5 November 1990 – 21 May 1992 | Succeeded by |
