Abdul Hafiz Pirzada

Abdul Hafeez Pirzada (; 24 February 1935 – 1 September 2015) was a Pakistani lawyer, legal theorist, and politician, who served variously as minister for information, minister for law, minister for finance, and minister for education under president and later prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto from 1971 to 1977. As law minister, he is credited as a principal draftsman of the Constitution of Pakistan, passed in 1973.

Trained as a barrister at Lincoln's Inn, Pirzada was a founding member of the Pakistan People's Party. He was elected to the National Assembly in the elections of 1970, holding several ministerial portfolios in the Bhutto government. After the government was deposed by General Zia-ul-Haq in 1977, Pirzada unsuccessfully assisted with Bhutto's defence in his criminal trial for murder. He briefly led the PPP before being imprisoned by the Zia regime, eventually leaving the party over differences with Benazir Bhutto, and retiring from politics.

Returning to private practice, Pirzada rose to Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court, becoming one of the country's leading lawyers. He died of medical complications in Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, on 1 September 2015. He is cited as the 'Father of the Pakistani Constitution'.

Early life and family Born in Sukkur, Sindh, British India, Abdul Hafeez Pirzada belonged to a Sindhi family, the son of former chief minister of Sindh Abdul Sattar Pirzada. His family remains active in politics: his brother Abdul Mujeeb is a member of the Pakistan Muslim League (F).

Pirzada obtained his LLB degree from Karachi University, before gaining his LLM from Sindh University. He was also awarded an MSc. in political science from the university, after focusing his thesis on the Soviet Union and the rise of communism. He then trained as a barrister at Lincoln's Inn in London, as his father and grandfather had.

Pirzada began his legal career at the Sindh High Court, known then as the West Pakistan High Court. He first met fellow lawyer Zulfikar Ali Bhutto when both were associates at Dingomal Ramchandani's law chambers in Karachi.

PPP co-founder and federal minister Pirzada was one of 30 members that co-founded the Pakistan People's Party on 30 November 1967, led by Bhutto. As Bhutto's legal counsel in cases instituted by the military regime of Ayub Khan, Pirzada successfully defended the cases, and rose to play a greater role in the party.

In the general elections of 1970, Pirzada was elected a Member of the National Assembly from Malir, polling 64,000 votes.

Government negotiation team member In 1977, Pirzada was made Finance Minister. Elected an MNA again in 1977, Pirzada was a key member of the three-member government team that negotiated, unsuccessfully, a deal with the PNA opposition grouping. During that time, he was the Finance Minister of Pakistan for a little over three months, before the PPP-led government was overthrown by military coup by (see Fair Play) General Zia-ul-Haq, then-Chief of Army Staff.

Coup d'état and arrest On 17 September 1977, Pirzada, along with Dr. Hassan and Bhutto, was arrested by the Military Police, but was released in 1978.