Mushtak Ali Kazi

Justice Mushtak Ali Kazi seen after his retirement at a social occasion in October 1990

Justice Mushtak Ali Kazi (1917–2002), was a renowned jurist and writer of Pakistan and Judge of High Court of Sindh .

Birth and Family

Kazi was born in Sindh then part of the Bombay Presidency of British India on 21 December 1917. He was a distinguished alumnus of the University of Bombay.^{[citation needed]} His father Ali Muhammad Kazi joined the Indian Police and rose to the position of District Superintendent of Police, a position normally reserved for the British. His elder brother Mumtaz A Kazi had a distinguished career in the civil service and served as Member of the Sindh Public Service Commission. He married Razia Effendi, grand daughter of Khan Bahadur Hassanally Effendi - founder of the Sindh Madressah and one of the pioneers of the Pakistan movement. He was a nephew of the great scholar Allama I. I. Kazi and his gifted German wife Elsa Kazi. He had two sisters, one of them was married to the late Mr A R Kazi, Joint Secretary Ministry of Law, Government of Pakistan while the other was married to Mr Muhammad Hassan Kazi who was engaged in business with the Parsi community. Several of his cousins including Mr A G N Kazi, the late Mr Ahmed Hussain A Kazi and the late Justice Bashir Ghulam Nabi Kazi were also inducted in the civil service and rose to high positions. Several other members of the family who opted for the judiciary include Justice Mohammed Hayat Junejo, the late Justice Imam Ali G Kazi, Justice Akhter Ali G Kazi, and Justice Mukhtiar Ahmad Junejo. His nephew Justice Mamoon Kazi rose to be Chief Justice High Court of Sindh, while his son-in-law Justice Agha Rafiq Ahmed Khan is the current Chief Justice of the Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan

Career

Justice Mushtak Ali Kazi had a remarkable career. After his initial postings as senior civil judge, he remained District and Sessions judge in several districts of Sindh. During the early seventies, he was appointed as Joint Secretary Ministry of Law, Government of Pakistan. He was subsequently elevated as a Judge of the High Court of Sindh and Balochistan.^[1] During his career as judge he had to serve initially as Member and later as President of the Hyderabad tribunal in a high profile case involving leading politicians such as Abdul Wali Khan, Sardar Ataullah Mengal, Ghous Bakhsh Bizenjo and Barrister Azizullah Sheikh. Although averse by nature to politics he was forced to sit on the bench until the case was withdrawn by the government and the tribunal disbanded in 1978. After his retirement from the High Court he served as Chairman Sindh Services Tribunal and Chairman Sindh Public Service Commission.

Post retirement activity

After his retirement, Justice Mushtak Ali Kazi devoted himself to writing books, and his works are catalogued in several distinguished libraries.^[2] He initially wrote his memoirs entitled Journey through Judiciary, which makes a very interesting reading.^[3] It was obvious from his memoirs that he was deeply inspired by his uncle Allama I. I. Kazi and aunt Elsa Kazi. His second book was a biography focusing on the life and thoughts of his uncle.^[4] Through his third book he edited and compiled some selcted writings and speeches of his uncle.^[5] A defining characteristic of his writing is the use of simple English in an honest and straight forward manner. He possessed a very candid style of writing and ostensibly did not keep any secrets from his readers calling a spade a spade.

Death

Justice Kazi died after leading a highly eventful life on 5 February 2002 due to cardiac arrest, leaving behind his widow Razia and three daughters Farida, Fauzia and Farzeen, and several grand-children including Humayun, Samir, Syma, Hasan, Agha Haris, Hira Agha Shah, Nadia Shah, Sanaa Agha Shah and Agha Fahad.^[6]

See also

• Allama I. I. Kazi
• Elsa Kazi
• A G N Kazi
• Khan Bahadur Ghulam Nabi Kazi
• Dr Ali Ahmed S Kazi
• Ahmed Hussain A. Kazi
• Justice Bashir Ghulam Nabi Kazi
• Justice Mukhtiar Ahmad Junejo
• Mutawakkil Kazi
• Justice Agha Rafiq Ahmed Khan
• Ghulam Nabi Kazi
• Sindh
• University of Mumbai
• High Court of Sindh
• Hyderabad tribunal

References

1. ^ List of retired or elevated Judges of the High Court of Sindh
2. ^ Books written by Justice Mushtak Ali Kazi
3. ^ Journey Through Judiciary
4. ^ Allama I I Kazi, his life and thoughts
5. ^ Selected Writings and Speeches of Allama I. I. Kazi
6. ^ News Report in the Daily Dawn of 6th February 2002

Persondata
Name	Kazi, Mushtak Ali
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1917
Place of birth
Date of death	2002
Place of death