تبادلۂ خیال:آصف سید خان کھوسہ

copied from supreme courts site for later reference in writing the article. --- Mr. Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa was born on December 21, 1954 at Dera Ghazi Khan. He passed his Matriculation Examination in the year 1969 from the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Multan winning the National Talent Scholarship. As a student of Government College, Lahore he passed his Intermediate Examination in the year 1971 from the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Lahore, securing first position in the Board and winning the National Talent Scholarship. Again as a student of Government College, Lahore he passed his B.A. Examination in the year 1973 from the University of the Punjab, securing first position in the University and winning the National Talent Scholarship. He secured his M.A. degree in English Language and Literature from the University of the Punjab in the year 1975. After proceeding to the United Kingdom in the year 1976 for his legal education he completed his Law Tripos, Part I, from Queens' College, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom in the year 1977 and then he got his LL.M. degree from University of Cambridge, United Kingdom in the year 1978 with specialization in Public International Law in the subjects of the Law of Peace, the Law of War and Armed Conflict, the Law of International Institutions and the Law of Civil Liberties. He was called to the Bar on July 26, 1979 at the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, London, United Kingdom and was conferred the degree of Utter Barrister.

Justice Khosa was enrolled as an Advocate of the Lahore High Court on November 13, 1979 and later as an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on September 12, 1985. He practised law for a few months before the District Courts at Dera Ghazi Khan and then for a few years at the Multan Bench of the Lahore High Court before shifting his legal practice to Lahore. As an Advocate Supreme Court he handled thousands of cases of constitutional, criminal, civil, service, revenue and election laws in the superior courts of Pakistan. Over 600 cases conducted by him had been reported in various Law Reports. He also served as a Member of the Library Committee and as a Member of the Executive Committee of the Lahore High Court Bar Association, Lahore for some time.

During his legal practice Justice Khosa had authored two books titled 'Heeding the Constitution' (published in 1995 by P.L.D. Publishers, 35-Nabha Road, Lahore) and 'Constitutional Apologues' (published in 1997 by Kausar Brothers, I-Turner Road, Lahore). He had also edited and compiled 'The Constitution of Pakistan, 1973' with all amendments upto date (published in 1989 by Kausar Brothers, I-Turner Road, Lahore and reprinted every year). He had regularly been writing articles on various aspects of the Constitution of Pakistan and the same had frequently been published in P.L.D., P.L.J. and all the major English Newspapers of the country.

Justice Khosa belongs to a well-educated, landed, well-known and well-placed family of the Punjab. His late father Sardar Faiz Muhammad Khan Khosa, who was awarded the Tehrik-e-Pakistan Gold Medal by the Punjab Government for having worked closely with the Quaid-e-Azam in the struggle for Independence, was an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan who had also served as an elected member of the Pakistan Bar Council. Justice Khosa is son-in-law of Justice (Retired) Dr. Syed Nasim Hasan Shah who served the superior judiciary of Pakistan for over twenty-six years and retired as Chief Justice of Pakistan in the year 1994.

The intellectual credentials of Justice Khosa equally match his academic record. He had served as a part-time lecturer of Constitutional Law at the University Law College, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan from 1982 to 1985, the Punjab University Law College, Lahore from 1986 to 1992 and the Punjab Law College, Lahore from 1995 to 1996. At the time of his elevation to the Bench he was serving as a part-time lecturer of Constitutional Law at the Pakistan College of Law, Lahore. He was also a visiting lecturer of Constitutional Law at the Civil Services Academy, Lahore; National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA), Lahore; National Police Academy, Islamabad; Staff Training Institute of the Services and General Administration Department of the Government of the Punjab; Training Course for Civil Judges conducted by the Lahore High Court, Lahore; and the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). He had also served as the Chief Editor of Key Law Reports (KLR) from 1989 to 1998. His publications on the constitutional law of Pakistan were read and referred to with seriousness. His legal services had, on many occasions, been usefully utilized by the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Lahore High Court when he was called upon to assist the Courts as amicus curiae in different important cases. He is serving as a member of the Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee for Pakistan since 2004. He was appointed as a member of the Board of Management of the Punjab Judicial Academy, Lahore in October 2009. He has regularly been delivering lectures at the Federal Judicial Academy, Islamabad since early 2010.

Justice Khosa has ample national and international exposure. As a lawyer and then as a Judge he has participated and represented Pakistan in various conferences, seminars and symposia held in Pakistan and abroad. He is a founding member of the SAARCLAW. Some of the major international conferences / seminars attended by him are: International Law Association's Conference on 'The Right to Food' held at Islamabad, Pakistan in 1990; First SAARCLAW Conference held at Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1991; Second SAARCLAW Conference held at Karachi, Pakistan in 1992; Third SAARCLAW Conference held at New Delhi, India in 1994; Contributed a paper for the Asia Law Conference on Social Development held at Hyderabad, India from February 17 to February 19, 1995; Joint Seminar on 'Contemporary Issues Concerning Criminal Justice: A Comparative Perspective' conducted by the National Police Academy, Islamabad in collaboration with the United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Tokyo held at Rawalpindi, Pakistan from March 12 to March 16, 1995; Fourth SAARCLAW Conference held at Kathmandu, Nepal from March 31 to April 2, 1995; Seminar on 'Civil Services of Pakistan: Challenges and Opportunities' conducted by the Civil Services Academy, Lahore on September 17, 1995; Workshop on 'Human Rights Education' held by the National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA), Lahore on August 18, 1997; Sixth SAARCLAW Conference held at Karachi, Pakistan from October 3 to October 5, 1997; Human Rights Conference of the International Bar Association held at Lahore, Pakistan from March 29 to March 31, 1998; Presided over and conducted three workshops at Islamabad, Lahore and Multan in 2004 attended by Sessions Judges, Additional Sessions Judges and Senior Civil Judges of all the Districts of the Province of the Punjab on the topics of ‘Judicial Ethics’ and ‘Delay Reduction’; attended the Third Biennial Meeting of Commonwealth Judicial Educators organized by the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute, Canada in collaboration with Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in New Delhi and Bhopal, India from March 12 to March 19, 2005; attended the Golden Jubilee ceremonies of the Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh, India in December, 2005 as one of the representatives of the Lahore High Court; attended the Intensive Study Programme for Judicial Educators conducted by the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute, Halifax, Canada from June 03, 2006 to June 24, 2006 at Halifax, Ottawa and Toronto, Canada; conferred Fellowship of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute, Halifax, Canada in 2006; attended the International Judicial Conference held at Islamabad, Pakistan from August 11 to August 14, 2006 in connection with the Golden Jubilee ceremonies of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and contributed a paper therein; attended the International Conference on ‘Criminal Justice under stress: Transnational Perspectives’ held by the Indian Law Institute at Delhi, India from November 24 to November 25, 2006 in connection with its Golden Jubilee celebrations; and attended the Intensive Study Programme for Judicial Educators conducted by the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute, Halifax, Canada from June 03, 2007 to June 23, 2007 at Halifax, Ottawa and Toronto, Canada as an Instructor. In June 2008 Justice Khosa was elected a member of the Board of Directors of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute, Halifax, Canada. He attended the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute’s Biennial Meeting of Judicial Educators at Arusha and Lake Manyara, Tanzania from October 29, 2008 to November 02, 2008. He attended a course on Judicial Administration conducted by the Royal Institute of Public Administration (RIPA) at London, United Kingdom from May 26, 2009 to June 05, 2009. He also attended a Judicial Conference on ‘Enhancing the Justice System under the Rule of Law’ held in Mauritius from September 22 to September 25, 2009 by the Mauritius Judiciary in collaboration with the Honourable Society of Middle Temple, London, United Kingdom and the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute, Halifax, Canada. He attended the Biennial Meeting of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute alongwith a Judicial Conference held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from March 23 to March 27, 2010. The theme of the conference was ‘Developing Judicial Education Programmes to respond to Contemporary Needs’. He attended the Mauritius International Arbitration Conference held in Mauritius from December 13 to December 14, 2010. He delivered a keynote address on February 15, 2011 at Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria in connection with New Legal Year commencement and the Nigerian Bar Association Maiduguri and Biu Branch Bar Week ceremonies.

Apart from his professional and academic interests Justice Khosa has a keen interest in different sports and outdoor activities. He had won many prizes in different indoor sports in Government College, Lahore and had also played Cricket for Queens' College, University of Cambridge. He has also traveled extensively in Europe, America, Africa, the Middle East, the Far East and the Indian sub-continent.

Barrister Asif Saeed Khan Khosa had been elevated to the Bench and appointed as a Judge of the Lahore High Court, Lahore with effect from May 21, 1998. On November 03, 2007 General Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan and also Chief of the Army Staff, imposed ‘Emergency’ in the country, suspended the Constitution and required the members of the superior judiciary to take a fresh oath of office owing allegiance to his Provisional Constitution Order. Like the Chief Justice of Pakistan and an overwhelming majority of the Judges of the Supreme Court and of the provincial High Courts Justice Khosa also refused to take such a fresh oath and, thus, according to General Musharraf’s decree he and the other defiant Chief Justices and Judges ‘ceased’ to hold their offices. However, as a result of the ensuing unprecedented, momentous and relentless movement launched by the lawyers of Pakistan, joined by the civil society and political workers across the board, seeking restoration of the ‘deposed’ Judges, General Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan, resigned on August 18, 2008 under a threat of impeachment by the Parliament and Justice Khosa was restored to his office on August 30, 2008. In recognition of their sacrifices for upholding the rule of law Justice Khosa and the other Chief Justices and Judges were, apart from receiving many other awards from legal and civic bodies around the world, conferred the ‘Rule of Law Award’ by the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT) on January 05, 2008. An ‘Award of Honour’ was conferred upon ‘The Judicial Heroes of Pakistan’ by the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute (CJEI), Halifax, Canada in February 2008. The American Bar Association also honoured Justice Khosa and the other defiant Chief Justices and Judges with a special Award. During his ‘deposed’ status Justice Khosa wrote his third book ‘Judging with Passion’.

Justice Khosa remained a member of the Administration Committee of the Lahore High Court, Lahore and was the Administrative Judge for Sessions/Criminal causes, matters relating to statistics of the High Court, Information Technology and Court Automation Wing, Access to Justice Programme, training of judicial officers and officials of Court Establishment and Powers Magisterial and Civil. He was also the Administrative Judge for Special Courts (Customs, Taxation and Anti-smuggling), Special Judges (Central) and Special Courts (Control of Narcotic Substances).

Justice Khosa was elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on February 18, 2010.