Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi resigned as a judge of the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Justice Naqvi sent his resignation to President Arif Alvi on Wednesday. The judge is currently facing misconduct proceedings in the Supreme Judicial Council.
“It was an honor to be appointed and to serve as a judge first of the Lahore High Court and then as the Supreme Court of Pakistan,” Justice Naqvi wrote in his resignation.
“In the circumstances which are a matter of public knowledge and to some extent public record, it is no longer possible for me to continue as a serve as a Judge of the Supreme Court,” he wrote. “Considerations of due process also compel so.”
“I, therefore, effective today resign as a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.”
The comaplaint in the SJC against Justice Naqvi had been filed by a lawyer named Mian Dawwod in April last year.
The complaint claims alleges that the judge made assets beyond his means and made changes in his tax returns in 2021 to ‘adjust’ the value of a plot of land. The reference has requested a scrutiny of the judge’s assets as well as those of his family.
The reference says that Justice Mazahar’s assets have a value of over Rs3 billion. It also says that the judge owns a one kanal plot in FECHS, a one kanal plot in Supreme Court Housing Society, a two kanal plot in Lahore’s Gulberg and a four kanal plot in Lahore’s St John Garden. He also allegedly owns a plaza in Gujranawala that is not decalred in his assets.
Since proceedings began, Justice Naqvi has complained of bias in the proceedings and also filed multiple petitions against the proceedings.
