Pakistan Supreme Court (file photo)
Islamabad: Pakistan’s Supreme Court has declared illegal the dismissal of a former high court judge several years ago for giving a speech against the country’s spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Former Islamabad High Court judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui was dismissed by the Supreme Judicial Council on October 11, 2018 for a speech he gave at the Rawalpindi Bar Association.
The dismissed judge challenged
The Judicial Council is the apex body authorized to take action against judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court. Siddiqui, in his address, had accused the ISI of influencing the court proceedings and creating a favorite bench. The dismissed judge had challenged his dismissal in the apex court, the hearing on which began after several years.
Five-member bench heard
A five-member bench led by Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa heard the case, which was telecast live. The bench comprised Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Irfan Saadat. The bench completed the hearing on January 23 and reserved the verdict. The bench ruled in Shukranar that Siddiqui’s removal was illegal and that he would be treated as a retired judge of the Islamabad High Court and would be entitled to all benefits admissible to a former judge.
Chief Justice made important remarks
A day before the end of the hearing, former ISI Director General retired Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed filed his reply on Justice Siddiqui’s petition. He rejected allegations of his involvement in constituting the Islamabad High Court bench to extend the detention of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz. The former ISI director general claimed that Justice Siddiqui dragged him into the case without any reason. During the last hearing, Chief Justice Isa had said that the court cannot sentence anyone without investigation. He said, “If it were so easy to remove a judge, it would be a threat to the independence of the judiciary.”
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