Karnataka High Court judge Jayant Patel, who had ordered an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the controversial Ishrat Jahan encounter case in Gujarat, resigned on Monday. The judge purportedly decided to step down after he was sidelined for the post of chief justice, IANS reported.

Patel submitted his resignation letter to Chief Justice SK Mukherjee.

Patel’s seniority at the Karnataka High Court had made him eligible for the post of chief justice, but he received a transfer order to serve in the Allahabad High Court. The Supreme Court Bar Association and the Gujarat High Court Bar Association had also questioned why he was not appointed as the chief justice. Patel had also served as the acting chief justice of the Gujarat High Court in 2015.

The Ishrat Jahan case

Jahan and three others were killed in an alleged encounter with security forces on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004. The Gujarat Police had claimed that the four had terror links and were conspiring to kill Narendra Modi, who was Gujarat’s chief minister at that time.

It was under Patel’s supervision that the CBI had filed a chargesheet in the Ishrat Jahan case, claiming that top Intelligence Bureau and Gujarat Police officials were involved.