President Asif Ali Zardari approved on Wednesday the dismissal of Supreme Court’s ex-justice Mazahar Ali Naqvi for “being guilty of misconduct”, Aaj News reported.

The decision was taken on recommendation of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) of Pakistan, a notification from the Ministry of Law and Justice stated.

The ministry said an earlier notification issued by the division related to Naqvi’s resignation had been withdrawn.

Earlier this month, the SJC found ex-justice Naqvi guilty of misconduct and opined “(he) should have been removed from the office of judge (of Supreme Court).”

The SJC, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa, maintained that instances of misconduct committed by ex-justice Naqvi “damaged the reputation of the judiciary”.

In January, after the apex court turned down ex-justice Naqvi’s request to grant a stay against the proceedings of the SJC, the former judge resigned from his position saying it was no longer possible for him to continue due to circumstances which were a matter of public knowledge.

Arif Alvi, then President, also approved the resignation.

However, in today’s notification, the law ministry withdrew the then President’s approval of the former judge’s resignation and rather issued a new notification of his dismissal on recommendation of the SJC, effective from January 10.