Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Athar Minallah have resigned from the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court Justices Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah have submitted their resignations from the court.

Both judges have abandoned their chambers at the Supreme Court.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah’s resignation, consisting of five pages, has been officially presented to President Asif Ali Zardari. Sources verified that Justice Shah, a senior Supreme Court member, submitted his retirement earlier today after weeks of apparent dissatisfaction with recent constitutional changes.

Critiques of the 27th Amendment

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah had before expressed significant concerns about the 27th Constitutional Amendment. He addressed two letters to Chief Justice Yahya Afridi, detailing his constitutional apprehensions and emphasizing what he characterized as significant institutional ramifications for judicial independence.

In his retirement letter, Justice Shah described the 27th Amendment as “a grave assault on the Constitution of Pakistan,” asserting that it had “fragmented the Supreme Court into pieces.” He additionally stated that the amendment had effectively subordinated the judiciary to governmental authority, thereby eroding the fundamental principle of separation of powers.

Chambers have been vacated.

Subsequent to the resignations, both judges vacated their chambers within the Supreme Court grounds. This development represents one of the most substantial judicial upheavals in recent years, as both judges were seen as pivotal figures in the nation’s highest legal arena.