Justice Jayant Patel, former acting Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court and currently a judge in the Karnataka High Court, has resigned from the Service.
According to sources, Justice Patel has apparently not cited any reason for tendering his resignation. However, sources said Justice Patel was apparently not made the Chief Justice in any High Court despite his seniority.
The Supreme Court Bar Association and the Gujarat High Court Bar Association have in the past raised the issue of his elevation as Chief Justice.
It may be noted that as a senior judge of the Gujarat High Court, he had ordered a CBI probe into the controversial encounter of Ishrat Jahan and three others, and monitored the case for more than six months.
It was during his monitoring that the CBI filed a charge sheet in the case naming top officials of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the country’s top spy agency, and the Gujarat police.
In Karnataka High Court, he was due for elevation as Chief Justice or Acting CJ, but was instead transferred to the Allahabad High Court where he was to be the third senior most judge.
Justice Jayant Patel sent his resignation to the Chief Justice's office and the same has been accepted.