LHC’s Justice Shahid Jamil resigns citing 'personal circumstances'

LAHORE: Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Justice Shahid Jamil Khan has resigned from the post owing to “personal circumstances” days after the abrupt departure of the two judges of the Supreme Court.

The LHC judge has sent his resignation to President Arif Alvi. He was to retire in 2029 and was in line to become the chief justice in the future.

“I, Justice Shahid Jamil Khan, after having served as a Judge of Lahore High Court, Lahore for about ten years, hereby exercise the option to resign under Article 206(1) of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 with immediate effect,” he wrote in the resignation letter.

“It was absolute honour to hold the office, but for personal circumstances I have decided to turn the page and start a new chapter,” he added.

The outgoing judge also cited proverb in the resignation letter: “An ounce of discretion is worth a pound of wit”.

Last month, two judges of the Supreme Court — Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi — stepped down from the post.

Ahsan, the third senior-most judge of the apex court, had said in his resignation to President Alvi that he wished not to continue as the top court’s judge anymore.

His resignation came only two days after Justice Sayyed Naqvi's stepped down from his after the apex court declined to halt the proceedings being conducted by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) against him with the ruling that without hearing the case on merits, a stay cannot be granted.

The SJC, on October 27 last year, issued a show cause notice to Justice Mazahar amid various complaints alleging bench manipulation and financial misconduct by the SC judge.

The untimely departures of the senior judges had triggered widespread speculation.

Both the judges were considered “close” to former CJP Umar Ata Bandial, with analysts saying that the jurists were involved in issuing controversial orders.

While Bandial was in office, the fault lines between the top court's judges were visible. This trend diminished when CJP Isa came to the helm, but the damage had already been done.