<p> Justice Jayant Patel, senior-most judge in the state after chief justice S K Mukherjee, resigned on Monday.<br /><br />As a judge of the Gujarat High Court, Patel had ordered a CBI inquiry into the Ishrat Jahan encounter case.<br /><br />Patel has sent his resignation to President Ramnath Kovind and Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.<br /><br />He had just been transferred to the Allahabad High Court. He was to take over as the third most senior judge there.<br /><br />Speaking briefly to reporters here on Tuesday, he said, “I’m not desirous to go to Allahabad High Court and that is the reason why I have tendered my resignation. There is no other reason apart from that.”<br /><br />He said he had just about 10 months to go for retirement and did not wish to “go to another place from here.” He was to retire in August 2018.<br /><br />Asked if the orders he had passed as a judge in the Gujarat High Court had adversely affected his career, Patel just said he had done his duty diligently and passed orders according to the law.<br /><br />He said he always passed unbiased orders on the basis of material placed before him, and never even looked at the names.<br /><br />Acting CJ position<br /><br />Patel was to take over as the acting chief justice next month as chief justice S K Mukherjee retires on October 9.<br /><br />He was also due for elevation to the Supreme Court, a decision deferred many times.<br /><br />Patel said he had served the judiciary for 16 years and destiny had led him to end his career in Karnataka.<br /><br />“I have very sweet memories from the Karnataka High Court that I will take along with me,” he remarked.<br /><br />Ishrat Jahan case<br /><br />On 15 June, 2004, Ishrat Jahan (19) and four men were shot dead in what the Gujarat police described as an encounter.<br /><br />They maintained Ishrat and her associates were out to assassinate Narendra Modi, then Gujarat chief minister.<br /><br />Questions were raised, and senior policemen were subsequently convicted of staging a fake encounter.<br /><br />The case has since taken many twists and turns, with David Headley, an American terrorist of Pakistani origin, describing Ishrat as a Lashkar-e-Taiba operative.<br /><br />Justice Jayant Patel, who resigned from the Karnataka on Monday, had ordered a CBI inquiry into the fake encounter case.</p>
<p> Justice Jayant Patel, senior-most judge in the state after chief justice S K Mukherjee, resigned on Monday.<br /><br />As a judge of the Gujarat High Court, Patel had ordered a CBI inquiry into the Ishrat Jahan encounter case.<br /><br />Patel has sent his resignation to President Ramnath Kovind and Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.<br /><br />He had just been transferred to the Allahabad High Court. He was to take over as the third most senior judge there.<br /><br />Speaking briefly to reporters here on Tuesday, he said, “I’m not desirous to go to Allahabad High Court and that is the reason why I have tendered my resignation. There is no other reason apart from that.”<br /><br />He said he had just about 10 months to go for retirement and did not wish to “go to another place from here.” He was to retire in August 2018.<br /><br />Asked if the orders he had passed as a judge in the Gujarat High Court had adversely affected his career, Patel just said he had done his duty diligently and passed orders according to the law.<br /><br />He said he always passed unbiased orders on the basis of material placed before him, and never even looked at the names.<br /><br />Acting CJ position<br /><br />Patel was to take over as the acting chief justice next month as chief justice S K Mukherjee retires on October 9.<br /><br />He was also due for elevation to the Supreme Court, a decision deferred many times.<br /><br />Patel said he had served the judiciary for 16 years and destiny had led him to end his career in Karnataka.<br /><br />“I have very sweet memories from the Karnataka High Court that I will take along with me,” he remarked.<br /><br />Ishrat Jahan case<br /><br />On 15 June, 2004, Ishrat Jahan (19) and four men were shot dead in what the Gujarat police described as an encounter.<br /><br />They maintained Ishrat and her associates were out to assassinate Narendra Modi, then Gujarat chief minister.<br /><br />Questions were raised, and senior policemen were subsequently convicted of staging a fake encounter.<br /><br />The case has since taken many twists and turns, with David Headley, an American terrorist of Pakistani origin, describing Ishrat as a Lashkar-e-Taiba operative.<br /><br />Justice Jayant Patel, who resigned from the Karnataka on Monday, had ordered a CBI inquiry into the fake encounter case.</p>