The Supreme Judicial Council held on Thursday that former apex court judge Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi was guilty of misconduct and should have been removed from the office of judge.
“SJC rendered its opinion in respect of the nine complaints against Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi under Article 209(6) of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan and opined that he was guilty of misconduct and should have been removed from the office of judge,” said a press release by the SJC secretary.
The decision comes around two months after Naqvi resigned from the SC, citing that it was no longer possible for him to continue due to circumstances which were “a matter of public knowledge”.
He took the step after the Supreme Court rejected his request to stay proceedings against him in the SJC over alleged misconduct.
But the SC on Feb 21 declared that the SJC can continue proceeding against the apex court judges despite their resignation or retirement.
Headed by CJP Isa, the SJC consists of Justice Tariq Masood, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti, and Balochistan High Court CJ Naeem Akhtar.
References against Justice Naqvi were filed in the SJC early last year after his name surfaced in connection with an alleged audio leak.
The council issued a show-cause notice to Naqvi in connection with 10 complaints lodged against him in October last year. The SJC directed the judge to submit a reply within two weeks.
In a preliminary reply submitted in November, Justice Naqvi had cited “serious prejudice” against him. He had demanded that CJP Isa, Justice Masood and BHC CJ Akhtar should recuse themselves and not hear the matter.
Later, he contested the proceedings against him and also challenged the show-cause notice issued to him by the council.
Then the SJC issued a fresh show-cause notice to Justice Naqvi on Nov 22.
Justice Naqvi had also written a separate letter to the SJC secretary, urging him to furnish a number of documents without which, he stated that he would not be in a position to prepare his reply to the show-cause notice within time.
On January 8, Justice Naqvi had withdrawn his objection to the three-judge bench hearing his plea.
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The statement said that Article-V of the Code of Conduct was amended after several judges expressed concern that if they respond to such allegations in the same way be construed as misconduct because the Code of Conduct, dated September 2 2009, in its Article-V, stated that a judge should not seek publicity.
The SJC had agreed to add the following to Article-V: “However, if an allegation is publicised against a judge he may respond to it.”
It is amended to read as under:
“Functioning as he does in full view of the public, a judge gets thereby all the publicity that is good for him. He should not seek more. In particular, he should not engage in any public controversy, least of all on a political question, notwithstanding that it involves a question of law. However, if an allegation is publicised against a judge he may respond to it.”
