Lahore High Court Justice Shams Mehmood resigns

Justice Shams Mehmood resigns following Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah’s resignation.

LAHORE (Today News) – Following the contentious 27th Constitutional Amendment, Justice Shams Mehmood Mirza of the Lahore High Court resigned.

Justice Shams Mehmood’s resignation follows similar actions by Supreme Court senior justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah, who also resigned in protest of the 27th amendment, citing worries about judicial independence.

Justice Shams Mehmood, who took the oath as an Additional Judge of the Lahore High Court on March 22, 2014, was set to retire in 2028. He is the son of Justice Zia Mahmood Mirza, a former Supreme Court justice. According to reports, after the 27th Amendment, he would most likely be relocated to another province. In addition, Justice Shams Mehmood served on the administrative committee of the Lahore High Court.

The resignations come in response to widespread criticism that the 27th Amendment weakens the judiciary by putting it under government control.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah noted that the amendment “has struck a blow to the spirit of our constitutional democracy” and cautioned that justice for the average man is becoming farther distant. He highlighted that continuing in office would imply implicit agreement of what he regarded as a “serious attack on the Constitution of Pakistan.”

Justice Athar Minallah, in his resignation letter, expressed these concerns, adding that the pledge he swore to preserve the Constitution no longer had value after the change. He stated his decision to retire as a matter of principle, after attempting to convince himself that the Constitution was still intact.