OBITUARY OBITUARY KHWAJA SULTAN AHMAD, A LEGENDARY CRIMINAL LAWYER, PASSED AWAY Khwaja Sultan Ahmad Senior Advocate passed away after a short illness on 14-1-2012. His name continues to live in the hearts and minds of his innumerable admirers. Khwaja Sultan Ahmad was a consummate gentlemen who abhorred incivility as much as he loved the law. He set a very high bar for the practice of law. He was, throughout his life, and career, a larger than life personality, and extraordinary lawyer who utterly owned the courtroom when he was conducting a trial. He had an extraordinary command of the facts and the law and was known for his strong presence in the courtroom, attention to detail, strong work ethic, and his incredibly high standards. He pushed his practice of law beyond his acknowledged courtroom brilliance to the ethical boundaries of the profession. Khwaja Sultan Ahmad was born at Lahore on 11th November, 1929. His father Khwaja Ferozud Din Ahmad, was a Barrister and a leading criminal law practitioner of his time. Khwaja Sultan Ahmad did his matriculation from Central Model School, Lahore, and graduated from the Government College, Lahore before obtaining his LLB Degree from the University Law College, Lahore in the year 1953. Khwaja Sahib inherited his father's practice and very soon made his mark as a brilliant young criminal lawyer. He introduced an innovative style in cross-examination. Over the years he trained hundreds of young lawyers in the art of cross-examination. Amongst those whom he trained many were elevated to the Bench or were elected to important offices of different Bar Associations. Khwaja Sahib was one of the best criminal law practitioner of his time and took his cases as a challenge. He had the distinction of conducting trials in all the provinces of Pakistan, and in particular there was not a single Tehsil/District in Punjab where he had not conducted a trial. Amongst the more prominent trials he handled as Special Prosecutor, were the Hyderabad Conspiracy case, the Iranian Consulate Officer's murder case known as Sadiq Gunji's case, Qayyum Khan's (owner of Quetta Goods Transporters) case in Quetta, Qamar Abbas' (Minister for Prisons' case) in Peshawar, the Nawaz Sharif plane-hijacking case in Sindh, and the Mumbai Attack case. After General Musharraf's coup he defended the accused Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, Mr. Saif-ur-Rehman and Mr. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in the plane-hijacking case. During his last years he was representing the accused in the Mumbai Attack trial in Pakistan. Khwaja Sultan Ahmad was a thorough professional and remained so throughout his life. His handling of cases was such that it did not earn him a single adverse remark even from his opponents. Despite his extraordinary success as a criminal law practitioner, he remained humble and humane throughout. In fact he would start each year's diary with this quote: "He who thinks he knows everything about law is living in a fool's paradise". Khwaja Sultan Ahmad was loved by all in the legal community-judges, prosecutors, defence attorneys, trial lawyers, and all other people connected with the legal profession. His friendships ran deep. He made friends easily and kept them forever. He understood the value of friendship, and nurtured them. He was given the life-time achievement award by the Lahore High Court Bar Association in the year 2001 in recognition of his outstanding and extraordinary contribution to the legal profession. Khwaja Sahib had a great passion for music and poetry and he was a great repository of music history. He was known for his great hospitality. May his soul rest in eternal peace, Aameen!