ISLAMABAD: In a significant development on Thursday, another Pakistani Supreme Court judge resigned from his post, making him the second judge to do so in as many days in what legal experts said was a sign of “serious rifts” in the country’s judiciary.
Justice Ahsan, the third-most senior judge of the Supreme Court, was poised to assume the coveted post of chief justice after the country’s incumbent top judge, Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa, retires in October this year.
His resignation comes a day after Justice Muhammad Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi also hung up his robes. Justice Naqvi was facing allegations of misconduct and was being investigated by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC). On Tuesday, the Supreme Court dismissed his plea to halt SJC’s proceedings against him.
“I no longer wish to continue as a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan,” Justice Ahsan wrote in his resignation letter addressed to the president, a copy of which was seen by Arab News.
“Therefore, I, Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan, resign as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in terms of Article 206 (1) of the Constitution with immediate effect.”
Justice Ahsan, who was part of the five-member SJC, had declined to join other members of the council on November 22, 2023 in issuing a fresh show-cause notice to Justice Naqvi.
He also objected to the SJC’s proceedings this week against Justice Naqvi and did not participate in the council’s hearing held today, Thursday.
Legal experts termed Ahsan’s resignation as an unfavorable omen for the judiciary’s credibility.
“These developments are not a good omen and would impact the judiciary very severely,” ex-attorney general of Pakistan, Anwar Mansoor Khan, told Arab News.
Khan said the resignations showed that Pakistan’s judicial system had been compromised.
“The manner in which they [judges] have resigned shows such serious rifts between the judges [exist], which is not an appropriate thing to do because judges are there to give justice to people,” he added.
Legal expert Barrister Afzaal Hussain termed Justice Ahsan’s resignation a “big development.”
“Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan was supposed to become the chief justice in the next few months, so his resignation is significant,” Hussain told Arab News.
Usama Khawar, another legal expert, said both judges had been on the wrong side of the military establishment for some time.
“Both of them had given some judgments,” he said. “Now, whether they have any connection with them or not, there is a perception that they were considered pro-PTI,” Khawar added, referring to former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
“For judicial credibility, It is very important that people know the real reasons for their resignations, as justice must not only be done, it should also be seen to be done,” he added.
