Justice Mansoor Ali Shah relinquishes role as Supreme Court's administrative judge

• Qazi Isa had appointed Justice Mansoor as administrative judge.
• Senior-most judge says he has quit the said post of top court.
• Justice Mansoor has been in limelight for quite some time.

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court's senior puisne judge, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, has relinquished from the position of a SC administrative judge, The News reported on Thursday.

It has emerged that Justice Mansoor refused to sign regular administrative documents that were handed to him for approval, saying that he had quit the post of the top court administrative judge.

It is pertinent to mention here that former chief justice Qazi Faez Isa had assigned the senior-most apex court judge the duties as an administrative judge of the apex court.

Justice Mansoor has been in the limelight for quite some time for his being outspoken as he has expressed his opinion openly on various matters of judicial interest, particularly the 26th Constitutional Amendment concerning reforms in judiciary and subsequent developments under it recently.

The senior puisne on December 13 expressed concern over the proceedings of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) in the absence of its rules, saying that the recently-enacted 26th Constitutional Amendment has "fundamentally disturbed the vital balance in the appointments process of the judges in Pakistan".

"The judiciary has enjoyed primacy in the appointment process of the judges in Pakistan, however, this vital balance has been fundamentally disturbed under the amendment, which now grants a majority to the executive in the commission," he had said in a letter to Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail — who heads the five-member committee designated to draft the rules.

On December 5, Justice Mansoor — in a letter to the chief justice — had sought the postponement of the JCP meeting, as numerous petitions challenging the 26th Constitutional Amendment were still pending before the apex court. However, CJP Yahya Afridi had made it clear that the commission did not have the scope to discuss the 26th Constitutional Amendment.

In a letter to the then chief justice, Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Mansoor on October 24 said he would not participate in the special bench constituted by the committee formed under the SC (Practice and Procedure Act), 2023, for assigning cases.

Raising objection, he had said he could not become a part of the bench for the same reasons that he mentioned in his September 23 letter to the secretary of the committee.

In the earlier letter, the senior puisne judge had expressed concerns over the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure Act), 2023, that deals with the affairs of the top court including the formation of benches.