President Asif Ali Zardari accepted the resignations of Supreme Court judges Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Athar Minallah on Friday. Their resignations came a day after the president signed the 27th Constitutional Amendment into law.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, in a detailed 13-page letter written in English and Urdu, said he resigned in loyalty to the Constitution. He called the amendment a grave assault that weakened judicial independence and placed the judiciary under executive control.
Justice Athar Minallah wrote that the Constitution he had sworn to protect was “no more”. He said he could not pretend the new framework rested on anything other than its grave. Both judges had asked Chief Justice Yahya Afridi to call a full court meeting. The Supreme Court said the amendment was not discussed, and the meeting only approved the SC Rules 2025.
The amendment passed the Senate with 64 votes, after strong opposition protests. The National Assembly also approved it with a two-thirds majority, adding eight new clauses including a bar on any court validating high treason.
