• Justice Shams Mirza becomes first high court judge to step down
• LHC moved against controversial law
• Justice K.K. Agha administered FCC oath

LAHORE / ISLAMABAD: Justice Shams Mehmood Mirza on Saturday tendered his resignation as a judge of the Lahore High Court (LHC), becoming the first high court judge to step down after two Supreme Court judges had resigned after the contentious 27th Constitutional Amendment was enacted into law.

“After the 27th Amendment in the Constitution, I am not inclined as a matter of principle and in good conscience to continue as a judge. I hereby tender my resignation as judge of the Lahore High Court,” he wrote in his resignation, a copy of which is available with Dawn.

Justice Mirza was appointed an additional judge of the LHC in March 2014, and his superannuation was due on March 6, 2028. He stood fifth in the LHC seniority list and was a member of the court’s Administration Committee.

He is the son of the late Justice Zia Mehmood Mirza, a former Supreme Court judge who delivered the famous and sole dissenting opinion in the 1996 case concerning the dismissal of Benazir Bhutto’s government by then president Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari. He is also a brother-in-law of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Secretary General Salman Akram Raja.

Justice Mirza’s resignation follows those of the Supreme Court’s senior puisne judge, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, and Justice Athar Minallah, who also stepped down in the wake of the 27th Amendment.

With his departure, the number of serving judges at the LHC has fallen to 43 against a sanctioned strength of 60.

In a press release, the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) paid tribute to Justice Mirza for his principled resignation and criticised the 27th Amendment for allegedly dividing the higher judiciary into pieces and being responsible for the “burial” of the Constitution.

The LHCBA urged other judges, who it said had taken oath under the Constitution, to also resign, adding that the legal community would respect them for such a move. The association also announced a strike for Monday, saying lawyers would completely boycott court proceedings after hearings of urgent cases.

Petitions against 27th Amendment

Separately, a petition challenging the 27th Amendment to the Constitution has been filed in the LHC, asking the court to set it aside by declaring it unconstitutional.

The petitioners, lawyers Munir Ahmad and Mian Shabbir Ismail, moved the court through Advocate Azhar Siddique, arguing that the amendment conflicts with the basic structure and spirit of the 1973 Constitution.

They contend that the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction has been abolished and that the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has been placed above it.

The petition says there is a fear that the status of the Supreme Court will be weakened and judicial independence compromised following the amendment.

The petition alleges that the amendment has distorted the country’s 60-year judicial history and tradition. It maintains that a federal constitutional court was never part of the original constitutional scheme.

The petition further argues that the current National Assembly is not a true constituent assembly and therefore lacks the authority to introduce such major constitutional changes. The amendment, it says, runs counter to Islamic provisions, judicial independence and fundamental rights.

The petitioners state that legal notices were served on the president, prime minister, Senate chairman and National Assembly speaker before approaching the court, but the amendment was nevertheless approved.

The Constitution, it argues, is a social contract and cannot be altered without public consent. “No detailed debate took place in parliament, nor was a transparent legislative process adopted,” the petition insists, alleging that the 27th Amendment was “passed in the darkness of night” without any national-level open debate with lawyers, civil society, journalists or other stakeholders.

In a separate plea, a citizen, Hassan Latif, has again filed a petition against the 27th Amendment. He had earlier withdrawn his petition after the court deemed it premature as the amendment had not yet received presidential assent.

The fresh petition contends that radical changes introduced by the amendment contradict the preamble to the Constitution and are aimed at curtailing the powers of the Supreme Court.

Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal is scheduled to take up both petitions on Monday.

Justice Agha takes FCC oath

Amid rumours about possible resignations at the Islamabad High Court (IHC), another judge of the FCC, Justice K.K. Agha, took oath at the IHC building on Saturday.

In what officials described as a significant step towards operationalising the newly established court, Justice Agha was sworn in by FCC Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan at a ceremony held in the IHC’s conference room.

The event was noticeably low-key compared to Friday’s oath-taking of three FCC judges, with a smaller turnout in the relatively congested venue.

Those who attended the event included FCC judges Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Ali Baqar Najafi. IHC Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, along with IHC Justices Arbab Muhammad Tahir, Khadim Hussain Soomro, Muhammad Azam Khan, Muhammad Asif and Raja Inaam Ameen Minhas, also participated.

Advocate General Islamabad Ayyaz Shaukat, Islamabad High Court Bar Association President Syed Wajid Ali Shah Gilani, Secretary Manzoor Ahmed Jaja, senior lawyers, judicial officers and other court staff were also present.

Notably, several IHC judges — including Justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Babar Sattar, Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan and Saman Rafat Imtiaz — stayed away from the ceremony. They had also boycotted Friday’s FCC oath-taking, and their continued absence has drawn attention in legal circles amid ongoing administrative changes linked to the new court.

Speculation about possible resignations by IHC judges swirled throughout Saturday. Rumours that Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan had resigned circulated widely on social media and WhatsApp groups, including those with senior IHC officials.

However, Justice Ejaz Ishaq’s staff denied the reports. Sources said the speculation began after the judge asked the librarian to separate books he had brought from home. Some insiders claimed a couple of resignations from the IHC could be expected by the end of next month.

Key appointments within the FCC have also been made. Retired sessions judge Hafeez Khan has been appointed registrar, while Mazhar Bhatti has been named secretary to the chief justice.

Sources said former additional registrar Nazar Hussain — who had faced contempt proceedings before a bench led by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah for not fixing a case related to the jurisdiction of benches — has also been attached to the FCC secretariat.

Sources added that the FCC is expected to begin hearing a small number of cases from Monday, for which benches have already been constituted.

Meanwhile, the IHC administration has allocated seven courtrooms to the FCC within the high court premises. The offices of the advocate general and attorney general have been vacated and cleared to facilitate the new court’s operations.

As part of the reorganisation, the process of vacating Courtroom No. 2 — currently used by senior puisne judge Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani — is in progress.

Justice Kayani is expected to be shifted to the courtroom of Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, while FCC Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan will move into Justice Kayani’s present courtroom once the relocation is completed.

Sources said the remaining two FCC judges are scheduled to take the oath on Monday (tomorrow).

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2025