Judge slated to be next Pakistan Chief Justice resigns, was part of bench that disqualified Sharif as PM

New Delhi: Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan, who was slated to become the next Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), tendered his resignation Thursday, Pakistani media reported.

Ahsan was supposed to take over as Pakistan’s top judge in October, after the retirement of incumbent Qazi Faez Isa. The development comes two days after another Pakistani Supreme Court judge, Justice Sayyed Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi, resigned, amid an investigation into misconduct charges against him.

Ahsan had raised questions about the ongoing judicial investigation against Naqvi, Pakistani daily Dawn reported, and the developments have sparked upheaval in the country’s top court just as Pakistan prepares to hold elections.

Ahsan was part of the five-member bench of the Supreme Court that delivered a verdict disqualifying Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader Nawaz Sharif as Prime Minister in 2017 following the high-profile Panamagate revelations.

In 2016, an international media investigation termed ‘Panama Papers’ — based on documents leaked from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca — alleged links between the Sharif family and offshore companies that owned luxury properties overseas.

On 6 May 2017, a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was ordered to be set up by the Supreme Court of Pakistan under the aegis of a senior official of the Federal Investigation Agency of Pakistan (FIA).

The JIT produced a damning report after a 60-day investigation, maintaining that the Sharif family owned assets well beyond their known sources of income, as reported by Dawn.

As a result of the JIT report, the five-member bench unanimously deemed Sharif unfit for holding office and disqualified him, also ordering a lifetime ban from politics.

Earlier this week, the Pakistan Supreme Court scrapped the lifetime ban on Sharif, allowing him to run for office again.

PML (N) information secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb has raised questions about the two Justices stepping down from their positions.

At a press conference, Aurangzeb alleged that the two justices had done “injustice” to the people of Pakistan over the last six years.

‘Hasty probe’

In his resignation letter to President Arif Alvi, Naqvi said it was not possible for him to “continue” to serve as a judge, as reported by Pakistan’s The Nation.

Naqvi is facing a judicial investigation (under the Supreme Judicial Council) for allegedly amassing wealth beyond his resources.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Judicial Council rejected his request to stay the proceedings against him, according to Dawn.

Justice Ahsan, part of the five-member SJC, had on 22 November 2023 refused to join the other members of the council in issuing a fresh show-cause notice to Naqvi.

On Tuesday, in a letter to SJC members, Ahsan expressed regret about “the hasty proceedings” and highlighted that debate and discussion were “non-existent” during council proceedings, Dawn reported.

(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)