Judge Mohsin Akhtar Kayani resigns in Pakistan — Dawn

Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani of the Lahore High Court has resigned in Pakistan. In a letter to the country’s president, he cited personal reasons, health problems following a recent surgery, and matters of conscience, Dawn reports.

Statements on judicial independence

Kayani said that serving at the Islamabad and Lahore high courts had been a privilege for him. According to him, over the years he handled more than 23,000 cases of various categories and sought to uphold the Constitution, protect fundamental rights, and administer justice impartially.

The judge stated that changes introduced by the 26th and 27th constitutional amendments had, in his view, jeopardized the independence and institutional integrity of the high courts. He also claimed that the executive branch had strengthened its control over judicial institutions, including in matters of judges’ appointments and transfers. In his assessment, this weakened public trust in the independence of the judicial system and the fairness of court proceedings.

Kayani added that he was concerned about the situation of ordinary litigants, whose needs, he said, often remain overlooked. He said that he plans to return to legal practice to continue defending people’s rights and promoting legal awareness.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Transfer to Lahore

In April, Kayani was transferred from the Islamabad High Court to the Lahore High Court and assigned to its principal seat in Lahore. Before that, he had been the senior-most judge of the Islamabad High Court and had expected to be promoted to the position of the court’s chief justice.

Following his transfer to Lahore, Kayani lost his seniority and took 12th place on the list of judges of that court. Later, after personnel changes, he was sent to the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court, where he was to sit as a single judge.

Previously, Kayani had challenged inter-court transfers of judges. The Supreme Court’s constitutional bench upheld transfers to the Islamabad High Court, including that of Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, who now heads that court. Kayani and other senior judges also challenged Dogar’s administrative powers in the Supreme Court, stating that judges could be excluded from the case hearing roster at the discretion of the leadership.