Judge Who Ordered CBI Investigation In Ishrat Case Resigns Without Citing Reason

Ahmedabad:

Karnataka High Court's most senior judge Jayant Patel, who had ordered a CBI investigation in the 2004 Ishrat Jahan encounter case in Gujarat, on Monday resigned reportedly for not being elevated as Chief Justice.

Justice Patel, the senior-most puisne judge of the Karnataka High Court after the chief justice, sent his resignation letter to Chief Justice SK Mukherjee. He however, did not give any reason for his sudden decision.

"Justice Jayant Patel yesterday sent in his resignation to Karnataka Chief Justice SK Mukherjee, who is retiring from the current post on October 9," office of the Karnataka High Court Registrar General told news agency PTI in Bengaluru.

The resignation has been faxed to Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Chief Justice Dipak Misra, it said.

It is believed Justice Patel, who was Acting Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court before being posted to Bengaluru, resigned in a huff over his transfer to the Allahabad High Court, where he would be the third most senior judge.

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In fact, the Gujarat High Court Bar Association had even raised the non-appointment of Justice Patel with the Collegium and called it shocking. This was when he was transferred as a judge in the Karnataka High Court after being an Acting Chief Justice.

Justice Patel had not only ordered a CBI investigation in the Ishrat Jahan case but had also monitored the probe, which included looking into the role of officials of Intelligence Bureau.

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He was sworn in as a judge of Karnataka High Court on February 13 last year, while he was appointed the Acting Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court on August 13, 2015.

(With inputs from PTI and IANS)