KARACHI, Feb 24: Rich tributes were paid to legal luminary Khalid Ishaq and other members of the Sindh High Court Bar Association who passed away recently, at a full court reference in the courtroom of the Sindh High Court chief justice on Tuesday.

Presiding over the reference attended by 17 judges of the SHC, Chief Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad eulogized the services of Khalid Ishaq, who passed away on Feb 7. He said half of the cases in which he appeared were fought free by him as he intended to provide legal assistance to the poor.

Mr Ishaq was a thorough professional who had to his credit a large number of important cases involving national issues, said the chief justice. He was a member of the Thinkers Forum. His behaviour and conduct was such that he had not only respect among people of the legal profession but also the public, he said.

SHCBA President Abdul Hafeez Lakho, in his speech, said he had been a worker with Khalid Ishaq for two-and-a-half years and could not forget the experience and lessons he got during that time.

"I never saw him annoyed with any person, servant, junior, friend, client, Moulvi or Ulema. He used to listen to people having different approaches and sentiments on a particular subject but he never lost his temper," said the SHCBA president.

Recounting the professional accomplishments by Khalid Ishaq, Mr Lakho said he served as assistant advocate-general of West Pakistan in 1958, became advocate-general and resigned in 1964. He was elected president of SHCBA in 1965 at a young age of 39, he recalled.

Shedding light on his religious expertise, the SHCBA president said he served as project director of the Islamic Research Institute, and remained member of the Council For Islamic Ideology till 1980.

Mr Ishaq, as a well-read man, had strong ideals and was a true Islamist having a solid grip on religious issues, he said. The speakers also eulogized the services of M/s Muhammed Asghar Hussain, Usman Ghani Rashid, a former AAG and AG, Mirza Aftab Alam Kizilbash, Khawaja Sharful Islam and Makhdoom Saifuddin Siddiqui.

The others who spoke at the reference included Deputy Attorney General Syed Zaki Muhammad, AG Sindh Anwar Mansoor Khan and KBA President Mehmood-ul-Hasan. - APP