Justice Shams Mehmood Mirza on Saturday tendered his resignation as a judge of the Lahore High Court (LHC), becoming the first judge to resign from any high court after the contentious 27th Constitutional Amendment was enacted into law.
According to family sources, his resignation letter stated that in light of the latest amendment to the Constitution, he could not continue in good conscience.
Justice Mirza was appointed as an additional judge of the LHC in March 2014, and his superannuation was due on March 6, 2028.
He is the son of late Justice Zia Mehmood Mirza, a former Supreme Court judge who delivered the famous and only dissenting opinion among seven judges in the case pertaining to the dismissal of Benazir Bhutto’s government by then-president Farooq Ahmad Khan Laghari in 1996. The judge had held that Laghari’s move was unjustified and there was no evidence suggesting there was a breakdown of constitutional order to justify exercising his powers under Article 58(2)(b), which allowed the president to dismiss the elected government and which was ultimately removed in the 18th Amendment.
A press release from the LHC Bar Association (LHCBA) said its officeholders paid tribute to the judge for his resignation and criticised the 27th Constitutional Amendment for having “divided the higher judiciary into pieces” and being responsible for the “burial of the Constitution”.
The LHCBA called on other judges who took oath under the Constitution to also resign from their posts, saying the entire legal community would respect them for the move. The association also announced observing a strike on Monday, saying that lawyers would completely boycott court proceedings after hearings of urgent cases.
Justice Mirza’s resignation comes two days after the passage of the contentious 27th Amendment, which has been assailed as a “flagrant attack” on judicial independence by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ).
The move also follows the resignations of the Supreme Court’s senior puisne judge, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, and Justice Athar Minallah, both of whom wrote strongly worded resignation letters censuring the 27th Amendment.
Separately, Justice KK Agha took oath as a judge of the newly formed Federal Constitutional Court, with Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan administering the oath at a ceremony attended by senior members of the judiciary.
Other Judges of the Federal Constitutional Court – Justice Aamer Farooq, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Ali Baqar Najafi – were present on the occasion. Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, along with other IHC judges, also joined the ceremony, while representatives of the Islamabad High Court Bar Association, including President Wajid Gilani and Secretary Manzoor Jajja, were in attendance.
Earlier, IHC judges Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan arrived for the event, followed by Justice Inaam Amin Minhas, Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro and Justice Muhammad Asif.
Justice Aminuddin Khan was sworn in earlier as the first chief justice of the Federal Constitutional Court, with President Asif Ali Zardari administering the oath at Aiwan-e-Sadr.
Along with Justice Agha, six judges were appointed to the FCC under Article 175A read with Article 175C. These include Justices Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Aamer Farooq and Ali Baqar Najafi of the Supreme Court, Justice KK Agha of the Sindh High Court, Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Rozi Khan Barrech, and Justice (retd) Arshad Hussain Shah, appointed after Justice Musarrat Hilali declined to join.
Of the appointed judges, Justices Rizvi, Farooq and Najafi were administered the oath by Justice Aminuddin at the Islamabad High Court.
Justice Agha’s appointment brings the FCC bench closer to full strength, with the government now considering increasing the total number of judges from seven to thirteen, a move that would require fresh parliamentary approval.