Ali Baqar Najafi

Early life and Education

Ali Baqar Najafi was born on 15 September 1963 in Lahore. His father Ali Huzoor Najafi was also a lawyer and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

He completed his basic education at the Government Muslim Model High School, Urdu Bazar, Lahore. He completed his B.Sc. from the Government College, Lahore. He joined the University of Punjab Law College and obtained LLB in 1989 and started his legal career in the same year.

Legal Career

Ali Baqar Najafi joined the legal profession under the apprenticeship of his father in Lahore. He enrolled as an Advocate of Lahore High Court in 1990 and subsequently as an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

During the course of his legal professional career, he has conducted a large number of cases before the Lower Courts, Federal Shariat Court, Lahore High Court, and Supreme Court of Pakistan.

He has conducted more than 1,000 cases during the last two decades on Constitution, Civil, Criminal, Corporate, Banking, Customs, Narcotics, Anti-Corruption, Labour, Immigration, and Islamic laws. He has also conducted cases of public interest litigation and human rights.

He was a faculty member at Punjab University Law College for twelve years. He also taught in other law colleges for 18 years. He has also remained an internal and external examiner of Punjab University and has taught Constitutional Law, International Law, Islamic Law, Land Laws, and Minor Acts.

Lahore High Court

Ali Baqar Najafi was elevated as a Judge of the Lahore High Court on 16 April 2012. He decided more than 26,000 cases as judge of the high court and has been praised for the swift disposal of pending cases.

Justice Najafi has dealt with a wide range of Criminal, Civil, Constitutional, Human Rights, NAB, Banking and Company, Anti-Corruption, narcotics, murder references, family, rent, and labour jurisdiction.

He worked at the principal seat of the LHC in Lahore and all Multan, Rawalpindi and Bahawalpur benches. He will remain a judge till his superannuation on 14 September 2025.

Model Town Inquiry report

Justice Najafi conducted a judicial inquiry on the Model Town incident which took place on 17 June 2014 in which 14 people lost their lives and several others were injured.

The incident happened after a clash between the police and workers of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) in Model Town outside the head office of Minhaj-ul-Quran and the residence of Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri.

The report was finally released by an order of the Lahore High Court in December 2017 after a legal battle with the Punjab government which sought to prevent its release.

The report did not affix responsibility but raised doubts regarding the intentions of then Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif who did not issue disengagement orders.

“The collected reports from all concerned and the affidavits submitted by the police officers in the field do not depict that any order of ‘disengagement’ by the chief minister, Punjab, was ever conveyed/received,” the report stated.

Justice Najafi reported that Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah seems to have already decided that PAT Chairman Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri would not be allowed to hold a long march from Rawalpindi to Lahore planned for 23 June 2014.

The report said “acts and circumstances of the bloodbath clearly show that the police officers actively participated in the massacre.”

It added the “apathy and recklessness of all authorities in Punjab in the matter under hand created genuine doubts about their innocence.”

“The actions of police of firing and severely beating the people on the crime scene is irrefutably suggestive that the police did exactly for which they were sent and gathered over there,” the report added.