Athar Minallah and Mansoor Ali Shah: Two Supreme Court judges resign

ISLAMABAD: Two senior judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC), Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah, have resigned from their posts, ARY News reported.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah have sent their resignation to President Asif Zardari.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah resignation comprises seven pages, has declared the 27th Amendment a severe attack on the Constitution of Pakistan.

The senior judge said that justice has moved away from the common man, and the vulnerable have become helpless in front of the powerful due to the 27th Amendment.

He said that this amendment has divided the top court of the country, and the nation has been pushed back several decades after destroying the independence of the judiciary.

He added that he cannot uphold his oath in such a court whose constitutional role has been usurped.

The judge stated that the amendment has been enacted by a government whose constitutional status is currently under review.

Furthermore, such leadership of the Supreme Court accepted the amendment despite its own constitutional status being questionable.

Pakistan has always had a single Supreme Court, and it is our joint heritage, but the 27th Amendment has dismantled the structure of the SC and erected a constitutional court above the Supreme Court, he added.

He said that the 27th Amendment was approved in the parliament without any consultation, debate, or opinion of the judiciary.

The sole purpose of the amendment is to give the government the power to place judges of their choice.