LAHORE – Justice Shahid Jamil Khan stepped down as a judge of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday citing personal reasons.
The LHC judge, who was supposed to serve until 2029 and was in the queue to become the chief justice in future, has sent his resignation to President Arif Alvi.
“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 honor 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.
Ahsan’s resignation came two days after Justice Mazahar Ali Naqvi stepped down as a judge of the Supreme Court after the apex court refused to halt the proceedings being conducted by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) against him with the ruling that a stay cannot be granted without hearing the case on merit.
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.
Justice Faez Isa reminds CJP Umar Ata Bandial of his ‘constitutional duty’
The untimely departure of the senior judges had triggered widespread speculations. Both the judges were considered “close” to former Supreme Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial.
When Bandial was in office, the fault lines between the top court’s judges were visible.