Both judges tendered their resignation after passage of 27th Amendment
\n ISLAMABAD
\nPresident Asif Ali Zardari on Friday approved the resignations of Supreme Court justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah.
\nBoth the judges had forwarded their resignations to President Zardari following the enactment of the 27th Constitutional Amendment a day ago.
\nThe jurists had criticised the 27th Amendment, describing it as a \u201cgrave assault on the Constitution of Pakistan\u201d. However, the federal government called the judges\u2019 resignations \u201cpolitical speeches\u201d and the latter\u2019s allegations \u201cunconstitutional\u201d.
\nJustice Shah, in his 13-page resignation letter, called the recent constitutional tweak an assault on the Constitution that dismantles the Supreme Court, compromises judicial independence and weakens the country\u2019s constitutional democracy.
\nOn Wednesday, the National Assembly passed the amendment bill, making changes to the judicial structure and military command.
\nThe amended bill fine-tunes the structure of the newly established Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), clarifies the titles and ranking of the country\u2019s top judges, and drops several clauses from the Senate-approved draft that had sought to alter oath-related provisions for various constitutional offices.
\nAnother key modification came in Clause 23, which amends Article 176 to include a proviso specifying that, \u201cnotwithstanding anything contained in the Constitution, the incumbent Chief Justice shall continue to be known as the Chief Justice of Pakistan during his term in office\u201d.
\nA further addition was made under Clause 56, which now defines the \u201cChief Justice of Pakistan\u201d as \u201cthe senior among the Chief Justice of the Federal Constitutional Court and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court\u201d, thereby establishing a formal hierarchy between the two judicial heads. The tweaks were sent to the Senate and passed on the same day.
\nJustice Shah wrote that the amendment, passed \u201cwithout debate or consultation\u201d, creates an FCC above the Supreme Court and places the judiciary under executive influence, leaving the apex court \u201ctruncated and diminished\u201d.
\nHe said he could not remain in a court \u201cstripped of its constitutional authority\u201d, adding that continuing would amount to silently accepting a constitutional wrong. He lamented that his hope after the 26th Amendment had now \u201cbeen extinguished\u201d.
\nWarning that judicial independence faces \u201cthe beginning of the end\u201d, he said nations lose their moral compass when justice is constrained. He thanked colleagues and family, saying resignation was the only honest way to honour his oath.
\nJustice Minallah, in his resignation letter, rejected the 27th Amendment, saying the Constitution he pledged to defend \u201cno longer exists\u201d and now survives only as a shadow without its spirit.
\nHe wrote that he had warned the chief justice before the amendment\u2019s passage, but his concerns were realised amid \u201csilence and inaction\u201d. Continuing in office, he said, would betray his oath and dishonour the Constitution\u2019s memory.
\nReacting to the content of the judges\u2019 resignations, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah termed the jurists respectable but accused them of advancing a \u201cpolitical\u201d and \u201cself-serving\u201d agenda, urging them to explain their claim that the Supreme Court had been fractured.
\nSeparately, Minister of State for Law Barrister Aqeel Malik labelled the letters \u201cunconstitutional\u201d, insisting Parliament\u2019s legislative authority cannot be challenged. He criticised the political use of courts, saying decisions must follow law rather than personal interests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Both judges tendered their resignation after passage of 27th Amendment ISLAMABAD President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday approved the resignations of Supreme Court justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah. Both the judges had forwarded their resignations to President Zardari following the enactment of the 27th Constitutional Amendment a day ago. The jurists had criticised […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514550,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-514531","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n