SJC tosses out ‘malicious’ complaint against Justice Masood

The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) on Monday unanimously rejected a complaint of misconduct against Supreme Court’s Justice Sardar Tariq Masood after the complainant was questioned and gave unsatisfactory answers and withheld information.

A five-member bench of SJC led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan issued a two-page written opinion after a meeting at the apex court.

“There is no substance in the complaint and we are of the opinion that it was filed maliciously to defame Justice Sardar Tariq Masood,” the order said. “The complainant herself has stated that her complaint should not have been filed, as the allegations were not correct.”

The SJC stated that Justice Masood was issued a notice if he wanted to rebut the allegations levelled against him and he filed his response along with the relevant record. It added that the complainant, Amna Malik, “conceded that her complaint was not justified in view of the documents seen by her”.

The order said that Justice Masood stated that he had been publicly defamed, as the complainant herself conceded that it was factually incorrect.

He requested that action should be taken against her and Advocate Azhar Siddique, who had tweeted her complaint.

“Justice Sardar Tariq Masood had also requested that since he was publicly defamed, he should be publicly exonerated too and that the order passed today as well as the examination of the complainant and answers to questions be disclosed and that he does not claim any confidentiality regarding it or in respect of his written response.”

Regarding the request of Justice Masood, the SJC stated, Clause 13 of the Supreme Judicial Council Procedure of Enquiry 2005 stipulated that “the proceedings of the Council shall be conducted in camera and shall not be open to public”.

However, Clause 13(3) of the procedure stated that the proceedings could be reported, if directed by the SJC. Accordingly, it said, considering the request of Justice Masood, who wanted public exoneration, the proceedings would be reported by the SJC secretary and uploaded on the Supreme Court’s website.

“In view of the fact that the complaint was statedly tweeted by Mr M Azhar Siddique, ASC, notice be issued to him calling for his explanation within seven days whether he tweeted, and if he had, [then] why should action in accordance with law not be taken against him or as recommended to be taken.”

Meanwhile, the SJC also considered the complaints of misconduct against Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, who appeared before the council along with his counsel Khawaja Haris. The SJC considered Justice Naqvi’s objections to the SJC members and its procedure.

The SJC proceedings were postponed until Tuesday (today).