Justice Naqvi submitted his resignation to the president a day prior, citing an inability to continue serving as a Supreme Court judge. Numerous complaints of misconduct, including his alleged involvement in an audio leak, were filed against him with the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) by lawyers and the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), urging his removal.
In his resignation letter, Justice Naqvi expressed gratitude for his appointments to the Lahore High Court and later the Supreme Court of Pakistan. However, due to circumstances widely known to the public, including his connection to the alleged audio leak, he deemed it impossible to persist as a Supreme Court judge, emphasizing considerations of due process.
The resignation followed the rejection of Justice Naqvi’s plea to halt SJC proceedings by a three-member apex court bench. The SJC had issued a show cause notice on October 27, 2023, citing complaints of bench manipulation and financial misconduct against Justice Naqvi.
Despite raising objections to the inquiry and requesting the recusal of Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa and two other judges, Justice Naqvi faced a second show cause notice on November 22.
In response, he filed a petition on January 4, 2024, under Article 184(3) of the Constitution, characterizing the misconduct allegations as a direct assault on judicial independence.
Notably, Justice Naqvi’s name was linked to recent audio leaks involving him, former Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi, and others. Elevated to the Supreme Court on March 16, 2020, Justice Naqvi gained attention in January 2020 for ruling in favor of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf as a Lahore High Court judge.
The Supreme Court promptly annulled the controversial verdict on the same day he resigned.
