Khan Habibullah Khan

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.

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 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 the then North West Frontier Province from 1932 till 1946. On Partition of India in 1947, he 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 till 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 as the President of Pakistan. He continued in this post till 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 the then West Pakistan located in Lahore (being the leader of the house in 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 till 5 August 1975 and consecutively elected Chairman for the second term of the Senate from 6 August 1975 till 4 July 1977. He remained acting President of Pakistan from 1977 till 1978, when martial law was imposed on the country by General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq.

Acting President of Pakistan

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