PESHAWAR: Former Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan died at a hospital here on Tuesday a few days after falling into a coma.

The 62-year-old was laid to rest in his ancestral village Thana in Malakand district after his funeral prayers were by people from different walks of life, including judges, lawyers, and high court staff members, in large numbers.

The deceased, who retired as the high court’s chief justice on March 30, 2023, suffered from a kidney issue and a massive stroke sank him into a coma a few days ago. He was admitted at a local hospital where he breathed his last.

Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Mohammad Ibrahim Khan, other judges, principal officers and staff members expressed grief over the death and prayed for the deceased.

Mr Qaiser was elevated from the bar and appointed an additional judge of the high court on Aug 2, 2011. He was confirmed as a high court judge afterwards.

He served in the high court for around 12 years.

The death of Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth led to the appointment of Justice Qaiser as the acting CJ on Nov 16, 2020. He was made the regular CJ on Jan 9, 2021.

Laid to rest in his Malakand village

Justice Qaiser was born on March 31, 1961, in Thana area of Malakand district.

He was a leading figure from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the 2007-09 lawyers’ movement for judicial independence and was the first lawyer to be arrested after the imposition of an emergency rule in the country on Nov 3, 2007, by the then military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf.

He was sent to the Dera Ismail Khan Central Prison under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance.

Justice Qaiser was popular among lawyers, so he was elected a member of the KP Bar Council for two consecutive terms in Nov 1988 and April 2004. He became a member of the Pakistan Bar Council on Dec 22, 2010, after getting the highest votes among elected members across the country.

Justice Qaiser also remained the additional advocate general of the province from March 17, 2008, to his resignation on March 25, 2010.

He graduated from the historical Islamia College, Peshawar, in 1981 and got his law degree from the Khyber Law College, Peshawar, in 1984.

Mr Qaiser got master’s degrees in political science and journalism from the University of Peshawar in 1987 and 1991, respectively. He was enrolled as an advocate of lower courts in 1984 and that of the high court and Supreme Court in 1991 and 2008, respectively.

As a high court judge and chief justice, he was known for taking keen interest in the issues of public interest, especially healthcare, education, forestry, human rights, tourism and environment.

He had to his credit the introduction of a law to limit schoolbag weight as he, leading a two-member bench, ordered the government in April 2019 to legislate on the matter.

Justice Qaiser also issued orders on different occasions for the removal of mobile phone base transceiver stations over threats to human health due to their installation near populated areas. He also ordered the Federal Investigation Agency and KP Health Care Commission to crack down on illegal human organ transplantation and quackery.

Published in Dawn, January 3rd, 2024