The term Doctrine of Necessity is used to describe the legal basis for a controversial 1954 judgment in which Pakistani Chief Justice Muhammad Munir validated the extra-constitutional use of emergency powers by the then Governor General, Ghulam Muhammad.
In that famous Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan vs. The Federation of Pakistan case, the unconstitutional dissolution of Pakistan’s First Constituent Assembly by Governor General Ghulam Mohammad was challenged by the petitioner. The then Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Mohammad Munir gave a landmark verdict that changed the course of Pakistan’s History - perhaps forever.

Prior to his verdict and also subsequent to that, Justice Munir noted that the issue before the court was not merely a legal issue, it was in fact a political one. He suggested that such issues may be best resolved in the political sphere through negotiation and compromise. In saying so, Justice Munir was especially concerned about the inability of the Court to enforce a decision. The court, he noted, does not have any instrument of power to enforce its ruling if it decides to side with the petitioner (Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan). Indeed, the government - with all the instruments of power at its disposal - can easily ignore the court’s ruling thus putting the case back to where it belonged - in the domain of the people and their representatives. Of course, Justice Munir, knowing fully that an anti-government ruling would be entirely ignored, ultimately sided with the Government thus throwing the country into its worst constitutional crisis since its creation. The country has never forgiven him for doing so.However it wasJustice A.R Cornelius who gave his dissenting opinion in the landmark judgment handed down by the Supreme Court in the Maulvi Tamizuddin case.

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Having once decided to achieve a certain task, achieve it at all costs of tedium and distaste. The gain in self-confidence of having accomplished a tiresome labor is immense.