SC judge Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman resigns

ISLAMABAD: Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman, Judge of the Supreme Court, on Sunday resigned from his office.

According to well-placed sources, Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman has sent his resignation to President Mamnoon Hussain stating that he had resigned from the post under Article 206(1) of the Constitution.

The Registrar’s Office of the Supreme Court, Islamabad Registry, however, remained ignorant about the resignation of Justice Iqbal as Registrar Arbab Arif could not be contacted despite repeated calls made on his cell phone. The Public Relations Officer, Shahid Kamboyo, also did not attend the call.

Shahbir Khattak, Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court, when contacted, was also ignorant about the also ignorant about the development, saying that he also came to know on the media that Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman Has resigned from his post.

Khattak, however, said that normally, a judge of the Supreme Court sends his resignation directly to the President of Pakistan and when the president acceptS resignation, the office of Registrar was then intimated by the Office of the President.

Meanwhile, sources said that Justice Iqbal did not mention any reason for relinquishing his post however. It was learnt that he was in constant consultation with his friends after the Supreme Court on September 26 declared the appointments made in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) since 2011 as null and void, with the ruling that these appointments were made without following the codal formalities of competitive process.

The court had held that such practice may lead to distrust of the public in the judicial institution of the country. A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Ameer Hani Muslim and comprising Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Dost Muhammad Khan, had announced a judgment in the petition filed by Chaudhry Muhammad Akram against 74 appointments in the IHC, made in phases from 2011 to the end of 2012.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Judicial Commission of Pakistan on December 4, 2010 had nominated Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman from the Lahore High Court as the IHC chief justice.

He was later elevated as Judge of the Supreme Court on February 25, 2013. He is the son of former Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Hamoodur Rahman, who was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court during 1960 whereas he was made the chairman of the commission set up to inquire about the fall of Dhaka and the role of the army at that time. 

After the announcement of the apex court judgment on appointments in Islamabad High Court, General Secretary Islamabad High Court Bar Association Muhammad Waqas Malik on October 18, 2016 requested the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) to restrain Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman from performing his functions as judge of the Supreme Court.