Supreme Court judge has not sought recusal from official duties

A letter circulated recently on social media purportedly written by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan seeking temporary recusal from judiciary duties.

The letter allegedly written by incoming judge Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan to Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa claims that he is being accused of trying to influence a hit-and-run case regarding his daughter.

Fact Check Pakistan has verified that the letter is FAKE.

There is also no report in the mainstream media regarding the report that the judge has made any request from the chief justice seeking recusal from official duties.

It must be mentioned that Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan, who served as Lahore High Court Chief Justice,  will be elevated to the Supreme Court after the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) approved his name.

CJP Faez Isa had forwarded the names of six senior LHC judges for two available Supreme Court seats and the names of three senior SHC judges against one vacancy.

The LHC chief justice, who was appointed to the LHC as an additional judge in May 12, 2011, and later confirmed as a judge of the high court on May 11, 2013, has also served as the secretary general of the Lahore High Court Bar Association, Rawalpindi, in 2004, and then as its president in 2009.

However, the JCP members split over LHC CJ’s nomination; minority favours keeping him in Punjab, majority hopes to benefit from his expertise in criminal cases.

Had the nomination of Justice Khan to become the judge of the Supreme Court not been endorsed, he would have retired on March 14, 2025.