ISLAMABAD Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, a senior puisne judge, resigned from his position as an administrative judge on Wednesday.
Sources claim that Shah was nominated to the Supreme Court (SC) as an administrative judge by former Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa.
Additionally, the senior puisne judge declined to sign the files that were handed to him, claiming that he was no longer employed as an administrative judge.
Justice Shah sends a letter on the appointment of judges.
Justice Shah previously demanded in a nine-page letter to the secretary of the Judicial Commission the criteria and process for selecting judges for the Supreme Court’s and the high courts’ constitutional benches.
“In the lack of any procedures or standards, the panel has already selected and appointed a number of Supreme Court and Sind High Court justices for Constitutional Benches.
“Therefore, there has been no logic or reason backing the nomination and determination of the number of judges for the Constitutional Benches of the Supreme Court and Sind High Court,” stated the letter.
“The Supreme Court of Pakistan’s current Constitutional Benches will be extended tomorrow [today].” Therefore, in the public interest, it is necessary and required that the Commission develop a process and standards for the selection and selection of judges for the Constitutional Benches,” Justice Shah’s letter stated.
Justice Shah declined to serve on a special bench established by the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure Act), 2023, in October. In a letter to former chief judge Qazi Faez Isa, he voiced his concerns on the new law and its potential effects on the court’s operations.
Prior to that, he objected to the manner judges are allocated to committees in a letter dated September 23. The chief justice may choose judges for a committee that makes up the benches under the new ordinance. The chief justice, the next most senior judge, and an additional judge selected by Justice Isa make up the committee.
In particular, Justice Shah took issue with Justice Munib Akhtar’s expulsion from the committee.
