Islamabad, December 7 — Lawyers and civil society activists have praised three judges who resigned after Pakistan’s 27th Constitutional Amendment was enacted, applauding their choice to put constitutional oath and honour above office and privilege. The coverage was reported in Dawn and distributed by ANI.
Supreme Court Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah stepped down on November 13, shortly after President Asif Ali Zardari signed the amendment into law. Shah described the amendment as “a grave assault on the Constitution of Pakistan,” while Minallah said he had sworn to protect not “a constitution” but “the Constitution.” Two days later, Lahore High Court Judge Shams Mehmood Mirza resigned, saying that after the amendment he was “not inclined as a matter of principle and in good conscience to continue as a judge.”
A joint statement published in Dawn and signed by about 60 citizens and lawyers praised the resignations, saying the trio had “permanently etched their names on the short list of national heroes who prized principles over expediency.” The statement added that while it mourned the perceived decline of judicial independence in Pakistan, the judges’ actions stood out for their integrity.
Signatories included prominent lawyers and activists such as Abid S. Zuberi, Jibran Nasir, Imaan Mazari, Asad Rahim, Sardar Latif Khosa, Salman Akram Raja, Zainab Janjua, Faisal Siddiqui, Salahuddin Ahmed and Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayeen-i-Pakistan leader Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar.
The joint statement singled out each judge for particular qualities. It described Mansoor Ali Shah as “undisputedly among the finest jurists ever produced by Pakistan,” praising his zeal for judicial reform and his vision of modernising the judiciary to deliver speedy justice to ordinary litigants. The statement lamented that the nation had “chosen to sacrifice him at the altar of short-term political expediency.”
About Athar Minallah, the statement noted his consistent advocacy for families of missing persons, for journalists facing state pressure, for opposition figures under duress, and for judges reportedly targeted by intelligence agencies. It credited him with helping shape the Islamabad High Court into what the statement called a “citadel of judicial independence.”
On Shams Mehmood Mirza, the signatories said he refused to allow fundamental rights to become casualties of turbulent times and became “an anchor of constitutional steadiness.” They highlighted that by resigning in protest against the 27th Amendment, Mirza would be recorded in history as the only high court judge to take that step over the measure.
The statement argued that the three judges were attacked not for their own actions but for opposing the earlier conduct of others, and that their “fault” was maintaining a steadfast refusal when others acquiesced. It concluded that their decision to preserve their oath and honour rather than cling to office serves as “a spark to the conscience of a nation.”
(Reporting syndicated from ANI via Dawn.)
