Latif was born on 9 June 1923 in the princely state of Hyderabad into an educated and affluent Sulaymani Bohra Muslim family, a large family of seven siblings. His father, Hasan Latif, was a civil engineer who was educated at the King's College London and in Heidelberg. Joining the engineering department of the Nizam's government as an assistant engineer, he rose to become the chief engineer of Hyderabad State. His mother, Leila Hydari was the niece and adoptive daughter of Akbar Hydari, former Prime Minister of Hyderabad. His maternal great-grandmother's brother was the barrister Badruddin Tyabji.