New Delhi, Sept. 26: Justice Jayant Patel, a senior high court judge who had ordered a CBI probe into the alleged fake encounter killing of teenager Ishrat Jahan in Gujarat, has abruptly resigned.

"Yes, I have tendered my resignation to the President of India and it has been accepted. A resignation once submitted by a judge to the President is deemed to have been accepted," Justice Patel told The Telegraph over the phone from Bangalore.

No reason has been cited but the resignation took place after he was passed over for elevation to the Supreme Court or to a high court as its chief justice. Instead, Justice Patel, serving as the second senior-most judge in Karnataka High Court, was transferred to Allahabad High Court as its third senior-most judge.

The issue has created an anomalous situation with the Gujarat High Court Advocates' Association, based in the home state of Justice Patel, holding a special general body meeting today and expressing its "strongest possible objection and disapproval against the Supreme Court collegium's decision" to transfer the judge.

The association said it would abstain from work tomorrow and appealed to all Bar associations in Gujarat to boycott the subordinate courts and tribunals.

A former Chief Justice of India said on condition of anonymity that the reason behind Justice Patel's resignation, though unfortunate, was valid. According to the sources, at least nine judges who are junior to Justice Patel have either been made chief justices of high courts or elevated to the Supreme Court.

In 2011 while posted at Gujarat High Court, Justice Patel had ordered the CBI probe into the killing of Ishrat in 2004 on the prima facie conclusion that it did not appear to be a genuine encounter.

Gujarat police had insisted that Ishrat and three others were part of a suicide squad that had planned to kill Narendra Modi, who was chief minister then. Since then, the CBI has charged some Gujarat police officers with carrying out a fake encounter. The case is pending in court.

In the normal course, Justice Patel would have retired on August 2018. Had the judge been elevated to the Supreme Court, he could have continued till 2021 as an apex court judge demits office at the age of 65 whereas a high court judge retires at 62.

Gujarat High Court Advocates' Association president Asim Pandya said the Bar would soon approach the Supreme Court seeking transparency in the process of appointments and transfer of judges to high courts and the apex court.