Justice Mansoor terms 27th Amendment “severe assault” on Constitution; Justice Minallah says Constitution no longer exists
Senior puisne judge Mansoor Ali Shah and Supreme Court (SC) Justice Athar Minallah have tendered their resignations from their posts on Thursday.
Both the judges have forwarded their resignations — copies of which are available with Geo News — to President Asif Ali Zardari following the enactment of the much-touted 27th Constitutional Amendment.
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The development came after the Senate approved the amendment bill following changes approved by the National Assembly a day earlier, amid noisy protests by the opposition.
Federal Minister for Law Azam Nazeer Tarar presented the constitutional amendment bill today, with the tweaks to the draft earlier approved by the upper house. The amendment bill received 64 votes (two-thirds majority in the 96-member House) in favour and four against.
The much-touted bill was initially presented in the upper house of parliament on Monday and got a nod on the same day. It was then referred to the NA, which approved it with some amendments. Therefore, the legislation was again presented in the Senate today to approve the latest changes.
In his 13-page-long resignation, Justice Shah termed the amendment as “a grave assault on the Constitution of Pakistan”, which “dismantles the Supreme Court of Pakistan, subjugates the judiciary to executive control, and strikes at the very heart of our constitutional democracy”.
“By fracturing the unity of the nation’s apex court, it has crippled judicial independence and integrity, pushing the country back by decades,” he wrote. “As history bears witness, such a disfigurement of the constitutional order is unsustainable and will, in time, be reversed — but not before leaving deep institutional scars.”
He declared that he could not continue in a court “stripped of its constitutional authority” following the passage of the 27th Constitutional Amendment. He noted that serving in what he described as a “truncated and diminished court” would be equivalent to “silent acquiescence in a constitutional wrong.”
Justice Shah wrote that the amendment, which establishes a Federal Constitutional Court above the Supreme Court, was enacted “without debate or consultation” and aimed to “place the judiciary under executive influence.”
He expressed dismay at what he described as the abdication of leadership by the current Chief Justice Yahya Afridi, saying that instead of defending judicial independence, he had “chosen personal continuity over institutional integrity.”
He said both the government and the judicial leadership lacked “moral and constitutional authority” to alter the judicial structure while their own legitimacy was under challenge.
“The 27th Amendment ruptures Pakistan’s settled judicial design,” he wrote, adding that it reduces the Supreme Court to a “mere appellate tribunal”, incapable of addressing state excesses or protecting fundamental rights.
Referring to his decision to remain in office after the 26th Amendment, Justice Shah said he had hoped the court would reclaim its constitutional role. “That hope has now been extinguished,” he wrote, lamenting that “the light of judicial independence has been dimmed by design.”
The judge emphasised that he joined the judiciary to “uphold the Constitution, expand rights, and strengthen democracy,” but could not serve in a court that no longer protects the people’s fundamental rights.
He described the situation as “the beginning of the end” for judicial independence, warning that when justice is shackled, “nations lose their moral compass.”
Justice Shah concluded his letter with words of gratitude for his colleagues, the legal fraternity, and his family, saying he leaves with “peace in knowing that I have served with integrity and leave with a clear conscience.”
“I cannot protect the Constitution sitting in a court that has been deprived of its constitutional role. Resignation, therefore, becomes the only honest expression of honouring my oath,” he wrote.
‘Constitution no longer exists’
Separately, Justice Minallah — in his resignation letter — protest against the 27th Constitutional Amendment, declaring that the Constitution he swore to protect “no longer exists.”
Justice Minallah wrote that his oath as a judge was not merely to a constitution in form, but to “the Constitution in spirit.” He said that despite his repeated attempts to believe otherwise, “what is left of it is a mere shadow — one that breathes neither its spirit, nor speaks the words of the people to whom it belongs.”
He revealed that prior to the passage of the 27th Amendment, he had written to the CJP Afridi expressing serious concerns about its implications for the constitutional order. However, he lamented that his fears had now been realised “against a canvas of selective silence and inaction.”
He said his resignation was compelled by the same oath he took upon assuming judicial office, noting that to continue serving after such an amendment would amount to betraying that sacred trust.
“The Constitution that I swore an oath to uphold and defend is no more,” he wrote. “I can think of no greater assault on its memory than to pretend that what is left rests upon anything other than its grave.”
He lamented that, throughout history, these robes have too often stood as symbols of betrayal through silence and complicity.
“If future generations are to see them any differently, our future cannot be a repeat of our past. It is in that hope that I now hang these robes up for the last time.”
