Habibullah Khan Marwat

Habibullah Khan Marwat (also known as Khan Habibullah Khan Marwat) (14 October 1901 – 5 December 1978) was the 1st Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan and former Peshawar High Court judge. He also served as the 10th Interior Minister of Pakistan during Ayub Khan's regime before serving two terms as Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan during Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's administration. In 1937, Habibullah Khan joined the Khaksar movement and worked in the North West Frontier Province.[1]

Khan Habibullah Khan
1st Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan
In office 6 August 1973 – 4 July 1977
Deputy	Abdul Malik Baloch
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Ghulam Ishaq Khan
10th Minister of Interior
In office 13 June 1962 – 23 March 1965
President	Ayub Khan
Preceded by	Zakir Husain
Succeeded by	Ayub Khan
Personal details
Born	14 October 1901 Aligarh, British Raj (now India)
Died	5 December 1978 (aged 77) Peshawar, Pakistan
Political party	Pakistan Peoples Party
Alma mater	Aligarh Muslim University

Career

Habibullah Khan graduated from Aligarh Muslim University in 1926. He was one of the leading lawyers in the region mostly practicing criminal cases in the then District Headquarters in Bannu. He lived in Bannu for his legal practice and returned to family home in Lakki Marwat occasionally. A street still exists in the name of Habibullah Khan in Bannu City where he then resided. He remained elected legislator of the first legislative council of then-North West Frontier Province from 1932–1946. Upon the partition of India in 1947, Habibullah Khan opted for a career in law and became the first District and Sessions Judge of Peshawar High Court in 1947. He was elevated to the position of judge of the Peshawar High Court in 1956 and remained in that position until 1961.

Habibullah Khan started his political career when he won elections in 1962 and was appointed as the Interior Minister of Pakistan when General Ayub Khan was formally declared President. He continued in this post until 1965, when Ayub Khan himself took the portfolio of Interior Minister, then known as Home Affairs Minister. Habibullah Khan was appointed as the chief Minister of then-West Pakistan located in Lahore (being the leader of the House in the West Pakistan Assembly). He remained as Chief Minister from 1965 to 1967, and resigned after developing political differences. Habibullah Khan was the first Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan from 6 August 1973 until 5 August 1975, and was consecutively elected Chairman for the second term of the Senate from 6 August 1975 until 4 July 1977. He remained acting President of Pakistan from 1977 until 1978, when martial law was imposed on the country by General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq.[2]

Acting President of Pakistan

Under clause 2 of Article 49 of the Constitution of Pakistan, Justice Habibullah Khan was the acting President of Pakistan from 1977–1978, when President Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry went abroad for medical treatment.

See also

• Shah Nawaz Khan (Chief Justice)
• Marwat

References

1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 June 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. Former Chairmen of the Senate of Pakistan Archived 6 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine Senate secretariat