Senior most judge of Karnataka High Court, who ordered CBI probe in Ishrat Jahan case quits

Justice Jayant M Patel, the senior most judge of the Karnataka High Court, has resigned as the Supreme Court collegium ordered his transfer to the Allahabad High Court. 

It is assumed that the resignation is the result of the bid to prevent Justice Patel from becoming the acting chief justice of Karnataka when the sitting Justice S K Mukherjee retires on October 9.

The resignation of Justice Patel has been confirmed by the office of Karnataka High Court. Justice Jayant Patel is best known as the judge who ordered a CBI inquiry into the killing of Ishrat Jahan and three others in Gujarat in 2004 when Narendra Modi was the chief minister.

Justice Patel was appointed to the Karnataka High Court in 2016 after serving as the acting chief justice of the Gujarat High Court from August 13, 2015, to February 2016. 

“This decision to resign is clearly because of the way he has been treated. Knowing Justice Patel it is a serious decision that he has taken and is unlikely to now change his mind. He seems to have chosen to go on his own terms,’’ a senior advocate in the Karnataka High Court said.