LAHORE: A Lahore High Court judge facing a reference of professional ‘misconduct’ before the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) tendered his resignation on Tuesday citing ‘personal reasons’.

Justice Mazhar Iqbal Sidhu sent his resignation to the president, sources at the LHC confirmed to Dawn.

“For personal reasons I have resolved not to continue my service as a judge of Lahore High Court, Lahore. Therefore, I hereby tender my resignation,” reads the handwritten resignation of Justice Sidhu.

The judge had abandoned judicial work for a few weeks since a final show-cause notice issued by the SJC. He would visit his court daily.

He was appointed as additional judge of the LHC on Feb 19, 2010 and later confirmed. He was to reach superannuation on Feb 28, 2023 at the age of 62. Hailing from Sheikhupura, Justice Sidhu was at number 10 in the seniority list of the LHC judges.

The Supreme Judicial Council had resumed proceedings on the references pending against judges of the high courts after former SC chief justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali announced activation of the council soon after taking oath of the office in 2015. A couple of other judges of the LHC are also facing proceedings before the SJC on charges of misconduct and corruption.

One of the judges also challenged the council’s proceedings before the Supreme Court.

According to information, no judge of the superior courts had been removed by the SJC on corruption charges since 1970s. However, in recent past, the council had removed a number of judges for taking oath under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) promulgated by former president Pervez Musharraf on Nov 3, 2007.

In case of corruption allegations, the judges usually prefer to tender resignation when fail to defend charges before the council in a bid to avoid termination. In the last such example, former judge of the LHC Malik Muhammad Qayyum and former chief justice the late Rashid Aziz Khan ‘opted’ to resign when a scandal surfaced after the 1999 military takeover. Khan was already elevated to the Supreme Court when he resigned.

Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2017