Pakistan: Lawyers hail judges who quit over 27th Amendment to "preserve constitutional oath"

Islamabad [Pakistan], December 7 (ANI): Lawyers and civil society members have hailed three judges who resigned after the passage of the 27th Constitutional Amendment, commending their decision to "preserve their constitutional oath and honour over office and privilege," Dawn reported.

Supreme Court judges Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah resigned on November 13, shortly after the amendment was signed into law by President Asif Ali Zardari. Shah called the move "a grave assault on the Constitution of Pakistan", while Minallah said he had sworn to protect not "a constitution" but "the Constitution".

Lahore High Court judge Shams Mehmood Mirza stepped down two days later, saying, "After the 27th Amendment in the Constitution, I am not inclined as a matter of principle and in good conscience to continue as a judge."

According to Dawn, a joint statement from 60 citizens and lawyers said, "We mourn presently, not at the resignations of Justices Shah, Minallah and Mirza--they have permanently etched their names on the short list of national heroes who prized principles over expediency--but at the demise of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the high courts of Pakistan, and the extinguishment of the last embers of an independent judiciary."

Among the signatories were 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 statement, printed in Dawn, said Mansoor "undisputedly ranks among the finest jurists ever produced by Pakistan." It added, "He stood entirely peerless in his zeal for judicial reform and his vision to drag the creaking edifice of the Pakistan judiciary into the 21st century and transform it into an instrument for speedy justice for the common litigant."

"It is our judiciary's and our nation's misfortune that we have chosen to sacrifice him at the altar of short-term political expediency and the desire for personal advancement of others," the statement said.

Speaking on Minallah, the statement said he consistently raised his voice for missing persons' families, journalists "muzzled by the state", the opposition "tormented by the government of the day", and judges "hounded by intelligence agencies".

It noted his role in shaping the Islamabad High Court into a "citadel of judicial independence".

On Mirza, the statement said he embodied a judge who "refused to let fundamental rights become casualties of turbulent times and became an anchor of constitutional steadiness."

It added, "By choosing judicial defiance over judicial silence, he ensured that when history is written, his name will stand firmly on the side of constitutional courage as the only high court judge who resigned in protest against the pseudo 27th Constitutional Amendment."

The statement said the judges were criticised by the "wielders of power, not for their own sin but for earlier sins of those whom they resisted," and added, "Their fault lay in the steadfastness of their 'no' when others were willing to say 'yes'."

"Their decision to preserve their constitutional oath and honour over office and privilege: to speak out instead of silently acquiescing to regression masquerading as reform; to stand instead of kneeling -- is a spark to the conscience of a nation," the statement said, Dawn noted. (ANI)

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