SJC to resume hearing against LHC judge today

Justice Irfan requests council to summons ex-AGP for cross examination

ISLAMABAD: A Lahore High Court (LHC) judge, who is facing proceedings of misconduct, has submitted a list of defence witnesses in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), which is resuming an important hearing today (Monday).

It is learnt that Justice Farrukh Irfan while submitting the list of more than three dozen witnesses has requested the council to grant further 10 days to submit more witnesses/evidences.

The LHC judge has also requested the council to summon former Attorney General for Pakistan Ashtar Ausaf Ali for cross examination. Being the prosecutor, the former AGP had submitted documentary evidences against the LHC judge.

Sources informed The Express Tribune that Justice Irfan also sought copy of the verdict in another LHC judge case wherein the show cause notice was withdrawn by the council.

Likewise, the judge noted that the petitioner, who moved the complaint, was not pursuing the case.

The LHC also stated that the prosecution had not attached supported documents to verify the claim against him. The same judge’s name was revealed in the Panama Papers in April 2016.



Sources said that the judge’s attorney also moved an application requesting the SJC to conduct an open inquiry.

The council has already conducted open hearing in justice Siddiqui’s case, who was ousted in November.

Earlier, the case was to be heard on December 24 in Lahore but the judge’s counsel Hamid Khan could not appear. The council gave an opportunity to submit a reply on December 29 and final arguments would be given on December 31 (today).

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 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 Justice Kasi and the Balochistan High Court chief justice.

Presently, the CJs of the Sindh High Court and Peshawar High Court are members of the council. It will be interesting to see whether the SJC will conclude the proceedings before the CJP’s retirement. The legal experts consider today's hearing to be significant.

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 issued show cause notices against three high court 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