Upright jurist Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim is no more
KARACHI: Retired Justice Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, who served as chief election commissioner, Sindh governor, law minister, attorney general and a Supreme Court judge, died on Tuesday. He was 91.
His family said that Mr Ebrahim was under treatment at home when he passed away.
His funeral prayers were offered in Noor Bagh and he was buried in the city’s oldest cemetery, the Mewa Shah graveyard, near the burial places of his parents.
Mr Ebrahim was born in February 1928 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. He attended the Gujarat Vidyapith, founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1920, and in 1949 he received his undergraduate degree in law. He also took philosophy-based courses.
He migrated to Pakistan in 1950 and studied at the Sindh Muslim Law College where he received his LLM degree and was awarded an honorary Juris Doctor degree in 1960. He went on to open his own eponymous law firm, Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim & Company.
Condolences and other messages were pouring in from people from all walks of life till late in the night.
In his condolence statement, Prime Minister Imran Khan said invaluable services rendered by the late judge in the field of law and provision of justice would be remembered for a long time.
Expressing his “deep sorrow and grief”, he prayed for the eternal peace of the deceased and to grant fortitude to the bereaved family.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed and other Supreme Court judges also extended their condolences. In a statement by the apex court, the judges said they “have extended their heartfelt condolences and sincere sympathies to members of the bereaved family of the departed soul”.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, of which Mr Ebrahim was one of the founder members, paid tribute to him on Twitter. “HRCP mourns the passing of Justice Retd Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, one of our founder members. He was an upright jurist, committed democrat, public intellectual and former Chief Election Commissioner. His is an irreparable loss. We share the grief of his family and friends.”
Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa too extended his condolences, tweeted the director general of ISPR. “May Allah bless the departed soul and give strength to the bereaved family, Aamen, COAS.”
Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2020