Lahore High Court Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani resigns

Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani has resigned. According to the Express Tribune, he submitted his resignation on Wednesday to President Asif Ali Zardari.

Express News obtained a copy of the resignation. According to its text, he stepped down for personal reasons, health problems and the voice of his conscience. He wrote that he had decided more than 23,000 cases during his judicial career.

The letter states that the 26th and 27th constitutional amendments affected the independence and institutional autonomy of the high courts. It also says growing executive interference in the appointment and transfer of judges harms judicial independence.

Justice Kayani wrote that public trust in judicial independence and in the justice process has been badly damaged. He wrote that difficulties for ordinary litigants are growing and that people seeking justice are being ignored.

He also wrote that his conscience does not allow him to continue as a judge in the present circumstances. He said he would return to practising law, to protect people's rights and raise legal awareness.

According to the Express Tribune, he was transferred from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to the LHC in May and served at its principal seat. Under the new judges' roster he had been reassigned to the Rawalpindi bench. He ranked second in seniority at the IHC and tenth at the LHC, and was due to retire in 2032.

Daily Jang reports that he became an IHC judge on 23 December 2015. In April, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan approved the transfers of Justice Kayani to the LHC, Justice Babar Sattar to the Peshawar High Court and Justice Saman Riffat Imtiaz to the Sindh High Court.

The Express Tribune adds that the transfers were the first direct application of the 27th Amendment to the high courts. Changes to Article 200 removed the need for a judge's consent before transfer.