Tassaduq Hussain Jillani

His name was proposed for caretaker prime minister by opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in 2018.

The Jillani Court took suo moto action following a petition filed by Justice Helpline regarding the Peshawar church attack in 2013, as well as other petitions filed by the Hindu community against desecration of their places of worship and press reports citing threats to the Kalash tribe by the Pakistani Taliban. On 19 June 2014, the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision on the protection of minorities and freedom of religion, authored by Justice Jillani in a bench also comprising Justices Azmat Saeed and Mushir Alam. The decision's expansion of freedom of religious expression in Pakistan has been compared to Brown v. Board of Education outlawing segregation in the United States.

Considered a progressive judge, Jillani was a strong proponent of civil liberties and fundamental rights, authoring landmark decisions on women's rights, honour killings, and the right to education. He also authored the suo moto decision on the protection of minorities and freedom of religion after the Peshawar church attack in 2013, widely held as the broadest interpretation of religious freedom laws in Pakistan's history.

On 17 August 2013, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry appointed Jillani to act as Chief Election Commissioner with immediate effect till the appointment of a new Commissioner. He succeeded former Justice Fakhruddin Ebrahim, who resigned from the office on 30 July 2013. His appointment as chief election commissioner was secured through the by-election clauses of the Constitution.

After appointing the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif approved the nomination papers of Senior Justice Jillani to be elevated as Chief Justice, upon the constitutional retirement of the Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry which due for 12 December 2013. Per Prime Minister Sharif's nomination, President Mamnoon Hussain approved the appointment the same day.

Upon approval of his nomination, Senior Justice Jillani immediately resigned as Chief Election Commissioner and passed the office to fellow Senior Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk. On 12 December 2013, President Mamnoon Hussain, alongside chaired with Prime Minister Sharif, administered the oath to JSenior Justice Jillani as the Chief Justice.

This exacerbated the Lawyers' Movement against the Musharraf regime, and led to the reinstatement of the suspended judiciary on 23 March 2009. Prime Minister Gilani announced that President Asif Zardari had issued an executive order that restored the pre-Emergency judiciary, including the Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. All deposed justices accepted reappointment.

On 31 July 2009, a full 14-member bench including Jillani held the declaration of emergency and imposition of PCO illegal and invalid. It also held that the removal of all justices from the higher judiciary was not valid, and that the reappointment of justices had no legal effect as their removal in the first place was not valid.

In July 2008, when Senior Justice Jillani was invited by the American Bar Association to receive and accept the Rule of Law Award on behalf of those judges of Pakistan who demonstrated courage in upholding the Rule of Law in the country, he penned:

Tassaduq Hussain Jillani was born in Multan, Pakistan. After graduating from high school, Jillani attended Government Emerson College Multan and Forman Christian College University, where he earned BA and MS degrees in political science. He then gained a Bachelor of Laws from the Punjab University. On a Higher Education Commission scholarship, Jillani later completed a course in constitutional Law from the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies of the London University. Jillani was honoured with a "Doctorate in Humane letters" from Southern Virginia University in a special convocation on 12 October 2007.

On 7 November 2007, Jillani was one of the senior justices who refused to take a fresh oath of office, following the imposition of emergency rule by military ruler Pervez Musharraf. The justices regarded the Provisional Constitutional Order law by which to take oath, instituted by Musharraf, as unconstitutional. Jillani was among the senior justices that were forcefully retired and detained directly from the Supreme Court.

On 7 August 1994, Jillani was elevated as a judge of the Lahore High Court after his nomination was approved by Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. He was elevated to the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 2004 by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

Born in Multan, Jillani was educated at Forman Christian College and University of the Punjab. He served as Advocate General Punjab in 1993 before his elevation as judge. As Justice of the Supreme Court, Jillani refused to take oath under General Pervez Musharraf during emergency rule in 2007, and his post was rendered nonfunctional. After the Lawyers' Movement, he was restored to the bench in 2009.

He was appointed Assistant Advocate-General of Punjab in July 1979 and enrolled as an advocate of the Supreme Court in 1983. In 1988, he was promoted to Additional Advocate-General of Punjab, before becoming Advocate-General of the province in 1993.

After completing his studies, Jillani started his law practice in 1974, in the district courts of Multan. After enrolling as an advocate at the Lahore High Court, he was elected General Secretary of the Lahore High Court Bar Association in 1976, and became a member of the Punjab Bar Council in 1978.

He also authored and penned a theme song, Justice for All!, sung by various Pakistan's singers at the 50th Anniversary of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The song has been declared as the Judicial Anthem of Pakistan by former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.

Tassaduq Hussain Jillani (born 6 July 1949) is a Pakistani judge who served as the 21st Chief Justice of Pakistan from 2013 to 2014. He previously served as a Justice of the Supreme Court from 2004, after being nominated Justice of the Lahore High Court by Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 1994.