ISLAMABAD – Two senior judges of Supreme Court resigned from their position, citing a profound loss of faith in the survival of the Constitution after 27th Amendment.
Senior puisne judge Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Athar Minallah Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and former Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court, sworded resignation letter addressed to the President of Pakistan, Justice Minallah wrote that his oath as a judge sworn multiple times over more than a decade was “not an oath to a constitution; it was an oath to the Constitution.”
Referring to the Twenty-Seventh Amendment, he expressed regret that his earlier concerns about its impact on Pakistan’s constitutional order had materialized “against a canvas of selective silence and inaction.”
Justice Minallah’s letter conveys deep disillusionment with the current state of constitutional governance. “The Constitution that I swore an oath to uphold and defend is no more,” he declared, adding that the current legal order “rests upon anything other than its grave.”
He described judicial robes not as “mere ornaments” but as symbols of trust that have too often “stood as symbols of betrayal through silence and complicity alike.” His resignation, he said, was compelled by his oath, not in defiance of it.
Justice Minallah concluded his letter with a poignant line “It is in that ardent hope that I now hang these robes up for the last time… May those who judge do so in Truth.”
The resignation has sent shockwaves through the legal and political community, marking a moment of serious introspection for Pakistan’s judiciary amid ongoing debates about judicial independence and constitutional supremacy.
More updates to follow…
