Mohammad Haleem

Honourable Chief Justice Muhammad Haleem (Urdu: ), LL.D. (HC), HI (1 January 1925 – 11 August 2006) was a Pakistani jurist who served as the 10th Chief Justice of Pakistan from 1981 to 1989, the longest serving Chief Justice in the history of the judicial branch in Pakistan.

He was even endorsed by successive future regimes in Pakistan.

Born in Lucknow, British India, he was the son of Barrister Muhammad Wasim, the first Advocate General of Pakistan, and the pre-independence Advocate General of Uttar Pradesh.

Prior to entering legal practice he served as a Lieutenant in the Pakistan Navy.

While on the Supreme Court and prior to his nomination as Chief Justice, Justice Haleem was one of the Supreme Court judges sitting on the bench which heard the Appeal from the Lahore High Court which handed down the death penalty to former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

He was one of three judges in the dissenting minority which voted to acquit Bhutto.

However, the majority opinion was to uphold the conviction, which ultimately led to Bhutto's execution.

BSc, LL.B degrees, Lucknow University (1946), and LL.D (Honoris Causa) degree – Karachi University (1990).

He was the chief justice of Pakistan from 25 March 1981 to 31 December 1989.

As Chief Justice of Pakistan, he wrote the famous judgment in Benazir Bhutto's court case which made the holding of 1988 Pakistani general election possible.

He was awarded Hilal-i-Imtiaz in 1996 by the Government of Pakistan.

Work papers on:

On 15 September 2006, paying tribute to Justice Haleem, Chief Justice of Pakistan in 2006, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry observed that Justice Haleem, without fear and favor, had helped Pakistan, with his judgment, get back on rails of parliamentary democracy in 1988.