Justice Agha Rafiq Ahmed Khan was born on in Shikarpur, Sindh Province, Pakistan. He belongs to the Royal Pathan Barakzai Family, from Afghanistan and is also related to Ahmad Shah Durrani of Persia. He has a wife, Mrs Farzeen Agha, and four children. His sons are Agha Haris and Agha Fahad, and his daughters are Hira Agha Shah and Sanaah Agha Shah. Three of their children are married, and the fourth one is young and is pursuing his studies.
Legal career
Justice Agha was enrolled as a member of the Sindh Bar Council in 1972. He joined Sindh Judicial Services as a civil judge and first class magistrate in 1973 through competitive examination of the Sindh Public Service Commission. He was promoted as senior civil judge and assistant sessions judge in 1978, and subsequently as additional district and sessions judge in 1983. In 1985, he was appointed as Secretary of the Sindh Legislative Assembly. He attended a Shariah training course in the International Islamic University in Islamabad in 1984. He was appointed as director of administration and legal services of Pakistan International Airlines in 1989. Reverting to his judicial career, he was promoted as district and sessions judge in May 1990. He also held the position of additional secretary for regulations in the Services and General Administration Department of the Government of Sindh. He assumed the charge of law secretary to the Government of Sindh in 1994, and was elevated as additional judge of the High Court of Sindh in 1995 and confirmed as a judge of the same court in 1996. However, he reverted to the Sindh Judiciary after a decision in the Al-Jehad Trust case and was posted as district and sessions judge in various districts of Sindh from 1997 to 2007. He was again elevated as additional judge of the Sindh High Court on 14 December 2007. After a few months, he was appointed secretary to the Government of Pakistan, Law and Justice Division in 2008. He was again confirmed as a permanent judge of the Sindh High Court during December 2008, retaining his original seniority from 1995. He was elevated as Chief Justice of the Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan on 5 June 2009.
As Justice Agha attended the 2nd Arab Countries Chief Justice Conference in 2011. He had invited the chief justices of Oman, Sudan, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Qatar. All of them visited Pakistan on his invitation in March, April, and May 2012. In February 2013, Kamal B.A. Dhan, Chief Justice of Libya, visited Pakistan and strengthened the judicial ties between Libya and Pakistan. In June 2013, Justice Sidi Yahefdhou, Chief Justice of Mauritania also visited Pakistan. Justice Dr Agha Rafiq was awarded with the Honoris Causa Doctorate of Law Degree by the University if Sindh on 26 January 2014 at Karachi. He is the first judge in Pakistan to receive such a degree.
