Earlier on Monday, Basit raised objections over the composition of the bench hearing the petitions against the 18 amendment. The objections were rejected and he was issued a show-cause notice.
During today's proceedings, Basit was directed by the apex court to submit a reply on the notice by June 3.
His surprising move came barely hours after the court adjourned the hearing.
The reasons for his withdrawal are not clear yet.
The Supreme Court (SC) put off the hearing of petitions against the 18th amendment till Wednesday.
A 17-judge full court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry is hearing 15 petitions filed against some clauses of the amendment.
The court will decide whether the petitions are maintainable.
During today's court proceedings, the apex court allowed Senator Raza Rabbani, who is the chairman of the Implementation Committee on the 18th Amendment, to be present during the hearing.
Mehmood A Sheikh filed an apology on the show-cause notice, while Dr Basit sought a two weeks time to respond.
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