Justice Raheel Kamran Sheikh has stepped down as a judge of the Lahore High Court (LHC), ending a tenure that began with his appointment on May 7, 2021.
Justice Sheikh was due to retire in 2036.
In his resignation letter, he said serving as a judge had been an honor and a matter of pride. He described his five years on the bench as important and fulfilling and said he was leaving the judiciary with a commitment to the Constitution and the rule of law.
Following his resignation, Justice Sheikh said he planned to pursue legal scholarship, policy research and comparative judicial practice.
“My years on the Bench have been the most formative and fulfilling of my professional life. However, after deep and sustained reflection, I have concluded that my further development as a jurist, and my capacity to contribute to the rule of law and access to justice, would be best served by a period of broader engagement with legal scholarship, policy research and comparative judicial practice,” he wrote.
The former judge holds a law degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science and is a Barrister of the Middle Temple. He was enrolled as an Advocate of the High Courts in April 2000 and as an Advocate of the Supreme Court in September 2012.
During his legal career, he served as a member of the Pakistan Bar Council from 2016 to 2020 and chaired its Human Rights Committee. He also served as a member of the council’s Executive Committee.
His practice covered public law, commercial law, taxation, regulatory matters, white-collar crime and human rights.