NATIONAL NEWS
ISLAMABAD: In a major development for Pakistan’s judiciary, Supreme Court judges Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Athar Minallah have stepped down from their positions, citing serious objections to the recently passed 27th Constitutional Amendment.
The resignations came shortly after Parliament approved the amendment—legislation both judges had openly expressed concerns about. Following their decision to step aside, the two judges also cleared out their chambers at the Supreme Court.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah’s resignation letter, spanning five pages, was formally submitted to President Asif Ali Zardari. According to sources, the senior judge dispatched his letter earlier in the day, concluding weeks of visible unease over the constitutional changes under discussion.
Justice Shah had repeatedly raised alarms over the amendment’s implications. In two separate letters addressed to Chief Justice Yahya Afridi, he detailed what he viewed as profound threats to judicial independence and warned of damaging, long-term institutional consequences.
In his resignation note, Justice Shah described the 27th Amendment as “a grave assault on the Constitution,” arguing that it had “splintered the Supreme Court” and placed the judiciary in a position subordinate to the executive—an arrangement he said contradicts the core principle of separation of powers.
The departure of both judges marks an unprecedented moment for the country’s top court. Justice Shah and Justice Minallah were widely regarded as influential and assertive voices within the Supreme Court, making their exit one of the most consequential judicial shake-ups in recent memory.
Read more: https://nayakashmir.com/27th-amendment-aims-to-serve-the-nation-not-individuals-rana-sanaullah/
