ISLAMABAD, July 9: Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, whose name was unanimously approved for the post of the Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan on Monday by the Parliamentary Committee on Appointment of the CEC, is an eminent jurist, constitutional expert and a senior advocate of the Supreme Court.

He has served as law minister, attorney general, a judge of the Supreme Court and governor of Sindh.

He was born in February 1928 in Dhrol (Gujarat), India.

In March 1981, serving as an ad hoc judge of the Supreme Court, he refused to take fresh oath under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) promulgated by General Ziaul Haq.

The PCO not only negated the independence of judiciary but also prolonged martial law by nullifying the effect of a judgment giving Gen Zia’s regime limited recognition.

Justice Ebrahim served as the governor of Sindh from April 19, 1989 to Aug 6, 1990. He was preceded by Justice (retd) Qadeeruddin Ahmed and succeeded by Mahmood A. Haroon.

In 1989, he established the Citizen-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) which works in Karachi and has immensely helped the common man in getting the First Information Report registered which police often refuse to do for some reason.

In 1996, Justice Ebrahim served as law minister in the caretaker cabinet of President Farooq Leghari, following the dismissal of the government of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

In December 2006, he served as the chairman of the anti-doping appeals committee constituted by the PCB, which acquitted Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif. Justice Ebrahim was in favour of the acquittal.—APP