LAHORE: Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman, a judge of the Supreme Court, tendered his resignation to President Mamnoon Hussain on Sunday.

The resignation letter was sent to the president from Lahore through a courier service. Copies of the letter were forwarded to the chief justice of Pakistan, the principal secretary and secretary of the law, justice and human rights affairs ministry.

A copy obtained by Dawn showed that Justice Rehman wrote the letter by hand. It said he was resigning from his position under Article 206 (1) of the Constitution.

The judge didn’t mention the reason for his decision to quit the court.

A judgement authored by Justice Amir Hani Muslim, another judge of the apex court, had on Sept 26 declared as illegal the appointments made in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) when Justice Rehman was its chief justice.

Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman was appointed as the first chief justice of the IHC on Jan 3, 2011. He was elevated to the Supreme Court as judge on Feb 25, 2013.

A few days ago the general secretary of the IHC Bar Association, Muhammad Waqas, requested the Supreme Judicial Council to restrain Justice Rehman from performing his duties.

Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman was one of the three judges of the Lahore High Court who had refused to take oath under the Provisional Constitution Order promulgated after Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had been sacked by President Pervez Musharraf on Nov 3, 2007.

Published in Dawn October 24th, 2016