SJC to take up case of LHC judge on Dec 31

AGP has already submitted documentary evidence on the matter

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) will take up on December 31 a complaint filed against a Lahore High Court (LHC) judge who was found holding offshore assets which were revealed by the Panama Papers in April 2016.

The Constitution under Article 209 envisions the SJC as the only judicial body competent to remove a judge of a high court or the Supreme Court “if found guilty of misconduct or incapable to perform duties due to mental or physical incapacity”.

In February, Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar had vowed that all complaints of misconduct against judges would be decided by the end of July but some cases are still pending.

Since 2005, around 340 complaints of alleged misconduct of judges have been registered but only one judge, Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), has been ousted in the past five decades.

The SJC is resuming hearing of the case against LHC Justice Farrukh Irfan Khan three weeks before retirement of its chairman, CJP Nisar. Earlier, the case was to be heard on December 24 in Lahore but the judge’s counsel Hamid Khan could not appear.

The Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP), who is the prosecutor in this case, has already submitted documentary evidence in the case. Justice Irfan has been asked to submit a written reply on December 31.

Sources revealed that the judge’s attorney is considering moving an application requesting the SJC to conduct and open inquiry. The council has already conducted open hearing in justice Siddiqui’s case, who was ousted in November.

A review petition by the LHC judge is still to be heard by the apex court. In the petition, he had challenged the Supreme Court’s decision not to replace former IHC chief justice Justice Anwar Kasi as an SJC member on the ground that a complaint of misconduct was pending against him.

The council has already discharged the complaint against Justice Kasi, who retired last month. The SJC comprises three senior SC judges and two senior chief justices of high courts. The composition of the SJC has also changed after retirement of the Justice Kasi and the Balochistan High Court chief justice.

Presently, the CJs of the Sindh High Court and Peshawar High Court are members of council. It will be interesting to see whether the SJC will conclude the proceedings before the CJP’s retirement.

The SJC was activated in the tenure of former CJP Justice (retd) Anwar Zaheer Jamali as it shortlisted a few cases and issued show cause notices. In the last three years, the council has issued show cause notices against three high courts judges.

In October, the SC upheld the administrative orders of the LHC chief justice for re-fixing seniority of the LHC judges as it relegated Justice Khan below three junior judges.

In view of the order, Justice Khan, who was the fifth on the current LHC seniority list, moved to the seventh place. He has also been deprived of becoming the LHC chief justice.