IHC judge Siddiqui to challenge removal by SJC

Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui files petition in top court today

ISLAMABAD: Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui has decided to challenge his removal as judge of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on account of misconduct.

Sacked by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), Siddiqui is all set to file a constitutional petition in the Supreme Court today (Thursday) under Article 184(3) of the Constitution through his counsel Hamid Khan.

The petition has already been drafted, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The former IHC judge has, in his petition, contended that he has been sacked without a proper inquiry to prove his claims in the speech he delivered at the Rawalpindi Bar Association which became a reason for his removal.

The SJC had unanimously opined that while delivering the speech before the District Bar Association in Rawalpindi on July 21, “Siddiqui, an IHC judge, displayed a conduct unbecoming of a high court judge”.

Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, the senior most among the SC judges on the SJC, wrote in the 39-page report that Justice Siddiqui did not even spare the Supreme Court when he remarked that he knew who sent messages to the apex court and who delivered them.

“Such reckless and irresponsible conduct of a high court judge was not countenanced by any standard of judicial propriety, and the Code of Conduct in this country is no exception in that regard,” the report stated.

The council also questioned Siddiqui’s motive behind meeting army officials. It wondered why he ‘received or entertained’ army officers at his residence and discussed judicial matters with them.

“Why did the judge not initiate proceedings against [those] military officers for committing contempt or discussing the matter with the chief justice?” said the SJC.

The sacked judge had deposed that he met various officers of intelligence agencies.