Judiciary In Crisis: Justice Ijazul Ahsan Resigns From Supreme Court

Justice Ijazul Ahsan's resignation comes a day after Justice Mazahar Ali Akber Naqvi had resigned 

Judiciary In Crisis: Justice Ijazul Ahsan Resigns From Supreme Court

Justice Ijazul Ahsan, the third senior-most judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, resigned on Thursday.

His resignation came around 24 hours after another top court judge, Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi,, submitted his resignation.

While his resignation letter has yet to become public, it is expected that he would have sent his resignation to President Dr Arif Alvi.

Justice Ahsan was in line to become the next chief justice of Pakistan after the incumbent, Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, retired in October.

Earlier on Thursday, Dr Arif Alvi accepted the resignation of Justice Naqvi just hours before the Supreme Judicial Council was due to resume hearing a case where at least ten complaints were filed against the judge.

While tendering his resignation, Justice Naqvi stated that it was no longer possible for him to continue serving as a judge in the current circumstances.

He added that "considerations of due process also compel" him to leave his position.

In writing, Justice Ahsan explained why he disagreed with the Supreme Judicial Council's decision to send show cause notices to Justice Naqvi. 

Justice Ahsan noted that the proceedings against Justice Naqvi were being conducted in undue haste while the allegations levelled against the judge of the Supreme Court were 'utterly without merit or substance', and where everything was based on hearsay or worse.

The writer is an Islamabad based journalist working with The Friday Times. He tweets @SabihUlHussnain