Lahore High Court

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Lahore High Court
عدالتِ عالیہ لاہور
Lahore High Court logo.png
Lahore High Court logo
Lahore High Court Building.jpg
Lahore High Court Building
Established21 March 1882;143 years ago (1882-03-21)
JurisdictionFlag of Punjab.svg Punjab
LocationPrincipal Seat: Lahore-54000
Circuit Benches: Bahawalpur, Multan and Rawalpindi
Composition method Judicial Commission of Pakistan
Authorised by Constitution of Pakistan
Appeals to Supreme Court of Pakistan
Appeals from District Courts of Punjab
Judge term lengthTill 62 years of age
Number of positions60
Website lhc.gov.pk
Chief Justice of Lahore High Court
Currently Aalia Neelum
Since11 July 2024

The Lahore High Court [a] (LHC) is the highest court in the judiciary of the Pakistani province of Punjab. It has supreme appellate jurisdiction over all provincial cases in Punjab. Established as a high court on 21 March 1882, the High Court is based in Lahore, which is its principal seat; alongside its secondary benches based in Rawalpindi, Multan, and Bahawalpur. [1]

Contents

A proposal was sent by lawyers to set up new high court benches in Faisalabad, Sialkot, D.G.Khan and Gujranwala divisions but full court of Lahore High Court turned down this request. [2]

History

Creation

In 1849, the East India Company defeated the Sikh Empire and assumed control of administration within the Punjab. A Board of Administration was constituted and the Punjab was divided into Divisions, Districts and Tehsils. The Divisions were controlled by Commissioners, Districts by Deputy Commissioners and Tehsils by an Assistant and Extra Assistant Commissioners. [3]

The Board of Administration consisted of Sir Henry Lawrence, John Lawrence and Charles Grenville Mansel [4]

Chief Court of the Punjab Lahore High Court

Lahore High Court in the 1880s Lahore High Court 1880s.jpg
Lahore High Court in the 1880s

In 1858 the Punjab, along with the rest of British India, came under the direct rule of the British crown and decisions with regard to administration and justice were now made under the authority of the monarch, Queen Victoria. [5] By 1864, a proliferation of court cases necessitated an expansion to the judicial structure in the province. The Punjab Courts Act, (XIX of 1865) introduced seven grades of courts, combining judicial and administrative functions and claiming jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases. The Court of Tehsildar was the lowest court, whilst the Court of the Judicial Commissioner became the highest court in the land. [6]

Over time, as appeals to the Chief Court greatly increased, later Acts namely the Punjab Courts Act, (XVII of 1877) and Punjab Courts Act, (XVIII of 1884) repealed earlier Acts and restated the law regarding the courts' constitution, powers and jurisdiction. [4] Additional judges were appointed, and greater finality was granted to the decisions of the lower appellate courts. [4] By 1884, there were four classes of courts subordinate to the Chief Court, namely the Divisional Court, the Court of the District Judge, the Court of the Subordinate Judge, the Court of Munsif. [7]

Lahore High Court

On 1 October 1882, the Chief Court of the Punjab Court was elevated to the status of a Lahore High Court, becoming known as Lahore High Court, King-Emperor George V also appointed a Chief Justice and six puisne justices, and declared the Court's jurisdiction over the Punjab and Delhi provinces. [4]

The Government of India Act, 1935 removed the barrier that the Chief Justice must be a Barrister Judge and opened the position to Civilian Judges. An age limit of 60 years was set for High Court Judges. [4]

By virtue of the Government of India (High Court Judges) Order, 1937, a maximum number of Judges for the various High Courts in India was fixed. In each case the number so stated was exclusive of the Chief Justice but included all additional judges. For the Lahore High Court the maximum number was fixed at 15. [4]

The West Pakistan High Court

On 30 September 1955, the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan established the province of West Pakistan, and gave the Governor-General the power to establish the West Pakistan High Court, which was established in 1956. Judges from the Chief Court of Sind and the Judicial Commissioners Court at Peshawar became judges at the West Pakistan High Court. [8]

Creation Of Divisional Benches

On 1 January 1981, it was ordered that the Lahore High Court would create benches at Bahawalpur, Multan and Rawalpindi. The order also specified that the Lahore High Court judges could hold circuit courts anywhere in the province, with judges nominated by the Lahore High Court Chief Justice.[ citation needed ]

Chief Justices

The first Chief Justice at Lahore was Sir Henry Meredyth Plowden in 1880. The current Chief Justice is Aalia Neelum, incumbent since 11 July 2024.

List of chief justices

The following table lists all the chief justices to date. [9]

PortraitPakistan justiceTook officeLeft officeNotes
Chief Court of the Lahore
Sir Henry Meredyth Plowden 18801895
Sir Charles Arthur Roe 18951898
Sir William Ovens Clark 18981909
Sir Arthur Hay Stewart Reid 19091914
Sir Alfred Kensington 19141915
Sir Donald Campbell Johnstone 19151917
Sir Henry Adolphus Rattigan 19171919
Lahore High Court
Sir Shadi Lal 19201934First Indian Chief Justice of any High Court in India
Sir John Douglas Young 19341943
Sir Arthur Trevor Harries 19431946
Sir Mian Abdul Rashid 19461948
Muhammad Munir 19491954
Sheikh Abdul Rahman19541958
Muhammad Rustam Kayani 19581962
Manzur Qadir 19621963
Abdul Aziz Khan19631965
Inamullah Khan19651967
Waheed-ud-Din Ahmad19671969
Qadeeruddin Ahmed 19691970
Sheikh Anwarul Haq 19701972
Sardar Muhammad Iqbal19721976
Aslam Riaz Hussain19761978
Maulvi Mushtaq Hussain 19781980
Shamim Hussain Qadri19801982
Javed Iqbal 19821986
Ghulam Mujaddid Mirza19861988
Abdul Shakurul Salam19881989
Muhammad Rafiq Tarar 19891991
Mian Mahboob Ahmad19911995
Khalil-Ur-Rehman Khan19961996
Sheikh Ijaz Nisar 19961997
Sheikh Riaz Ahmad 19971997
Rashid Aziz Khan19972000
Mian Allah Nawaz20002000
Falak Sher 20002002
Chaudhry Iftikhar Hussain 20022007
Sayed Zahid Hussain 20082009
Khawaja Muhammad Sharif 20092010
Chaudhry Ijaz Ahmed 20102011
Azmat Saeed 20112012
Umar Ata Bandial 20122014
Imtiaz Ahmad20142015
Manzoor Ahmad Malik 20152015
Ijazul Ahsan 20152016
Syed Mansoor Ali Shah 20162018
Muhammad Yawar Ali 20182018
Muhammad Anwaarul Haq 20182018
Sardar Muhammad Shamim Khan 20192019
Mamoon Rashid Sheikh 20202020
Muhammad Qasim Khan 20202021
Muhammad Ameer Bhatti 20212024 [10]
Malik Shehzad Ahmed Khan 20242024
Shujaat Ali Khan (acting)20242024
Aalia Neelum 2024present

Current composition

Lahore High Court is headed by a Chief Justice. The bench consist of sixty Justices and additional judges. The retirement age of Chief Justice and Justices is 62 years. The Additional Judges are initially appointed for one year. After that, their services could either be extended or they could be confirmed or they are retired. The current Chief Justice of Lahore High Court is Justice Aalia Neelum and Court is currently made up of the following Justices (in order of seniority). [11]

No.NameAppointmentRetirementNote(s)
1 Aalia Neelum 12 April 201311 November 2028Chief Justice Since 11 July 2024
2 Shujaat Ali Khan 27 March 201222 April 2026Senior Puisne Judge Since 11 July 2024
3 Abid Aziz Sheikh 12 April 201325 April 2029
4Sadaqat Ali Khan29 October 201320 January 2029
5Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi22 March 201421 April 2028
6 Faisal Zaman Khan 22 March 201430 July 2029
7Masud Abid Naqvi7 November 20144 July 2026
8 Shahid Karim 7 November 201419 August 2026
9Mirza Viqas Rauf7 November 201426 April 2028
10Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal7 November 201431 October 2028
11 Shehram Sarwar Chaudhary 8 June 201523 April 2030
12 Muhammad Sajid Mehmood Sethi 8 June 201518 May 2030
13Asjad Javaid Ghural26 November 201629 April 2026
14Tariq Saleem Sheikh26 November 201623 June 2027
15 Jawad Hassan 26 November 201627 July 2029
16 Muzammil Akhtar Shabbir 26 November 201613 January 2031
17Farooq Haider23 October 201823 April 2030
18Muhammad Waheed Khan23 October 201827 April 2031
19Rasaal Hasan Syed23 October 201810 September 2032
20Asim Hafeez23 October 201813 September 2032
21 Sadiq Mahmud Khurram 23 October 20187 January 2035
22Ahmad Nadeem Arshad7 May 20211 May 2027
23Mohammad Tariq Nadim7 May 202118 July 2029
24Mohammad Amjad Rafique7 May 20211 February 2032
25Abid Hussain Chathha7 May 20211 April 2034
26 Anwaar Hussain 7 May 202115 January 2035
27 Ali Zia Bajwa 7 May 202130 June 2035
28 Sultan Tanvir Ahmed 7 May 202127 August 2035
29 Muhammad Raza Qureshi 7 May 202114 September 2035
30 Raheel Kamran Sheikh 7 May 202120 January 2036
31Hassan Nawaz Makhdoom10 February 202531 October 2031
32Malik Waqar Haider Awan10 February 20256 June 2033
33Sardar Akbar Ali10 February 20255 July 2034
34Syed Ahsan Raza Kazmi10 February 202523 April 2038
35Malik Javid Iqbal Wains10 February 202517 January 2039
36Muhammad Jawad Zafar10 February 20255 December 2039
37Khalid Ishaq10 February 20253 February 2040
38Malik Muhammad Awais Khalid10 February 202523 June 2040
39Ch Sultan Mahmood10 February 20253 July 2040
40Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan5 March 202524 March 2030Additional judge, subject to confirmation
41Tanveer Ahmad Sheikh5 March 202526 December 2027
42Tariq Mehmood Bajwa5 March 202530 November 2030Additional judge, subject to confirmation
43Abher Gul Khan5 March 202530 December 2034
44Vacant
45Vacant
46Vacant
47Vacant
48Vacant
49Vacant
50Vacant
51Vacant
52Vacant
53Vacant
54Vacant
55Vacant
56Vacant
57Vacant
58Vacant
59Vacant
60Vacant

[12]

PCO 25 March 1981

The PCO of 1981 also afforded the Lahore High Court these three benches. The judges were required to take oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order. Four judges refused to do so and were relieved of office. Four other judges were not administered the oath, and were also relieved of office. [13]

PCO 26 January 2000

PCO 3 November 2007

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Urdu: عدالتِ عالیہ لاہور

References

  1. ↑ "Hon'ble Sitting Judges | Lahore High Court". Data.lhc.gov.pk. Archived from the original on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  2. ↑ "Lahore High Court". Lhc.gov.pk. Archived from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  3. ↑ "History of the High Court | Lahore High Court". Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "History of The High Court". Lahore High Court. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  5. ↑ Hibbert 2000, p. 221
  6. ↑ Nasser Hussain, The Jurisprudence of Emergency: Colonialism and the Rule of Law, University of Michigan Press, 11 Nov 2009, ISBN   0472023519, 9780472023516, p.148
  7. ↑ FBR. "Lahore High Court – Federal Board Of Revenue Government Of Pakistan". Fbr.gov.pk. Archived from the original on 13 February 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  8. ↑ "150 Years of Lahore High Court!". 150.lhc.gov.pk. Archived from the original on 8 February 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  9. ↑ "Former Chief Justices". Lahore High Court. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  10. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ↑ "Automation of Lahore High Court | PITB". Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  12. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. ↑ "History of the High Court". Lahore High Court. Archived from the original on 16 July 2013. Retrieved 8 May 2013.

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