Lawyers from Karachi rally behind judge
JUSTICE SIDDIQUI ALLEGEDLY REMOVED FROM OFFICE FOR CRITICISING ISI ROLE
Lawyers of Karachi have rallied behind a judge of Islamabad, denouncing his unceremonious exit from judicial office by President Arif Alvi on the recommendations of the Supreme Judicial Commission (SJC).
SJC is a forum comprising members of the superior judiciary with Chief Justice of Pakistan as chairman of the forum entrusted with accountability of the judges of high and supreme courts.
Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in July early this year had addressed the Rawalpindi District Bar and in his speech made serious allegations that ‘men in khaki’ were frequently interfering in the day-to-day business of the courts and they were even giving the names to chief justice of his court for the formation of certain benches.
Interestingly, neither the ISI nor Pakistan Army’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) lodged a formal complaint against the judge or the content of his speech, but the SJC on its own conducted proceedings against him and sent recommendations for his removal to President Arif Alvi who on Oct 11 last formally stripped him of his judicial powers on charges of misconduct.
SJC criticised
In a resolution passed by Karachi Bar Association (KBA) on Oct 16, the Bar criticised the way the SJC ‘rushed’ through the proceedings and conducted in-camera hearing without giving a chance to Justice Siddiqui to defend against the charges.
The KBA resolution says it seemed the SJC held proceedings as a cover-up, and instead of probing the allegations of the judge it proceeded against him.
It is quite surprising that instead of investigating the allegations made by Justice Siddiqui the SJC proceeded against him on the grounds of “making a comment on political matters that falls into the forbidden zone for a judge.”
In the KBA resolution it has been pointed out that members of the SJC themselves “have been engaging in public repartee with the politicians on hotly controversial political topics such as construction of upstream dams, including the notorious Kala Bagh Dam.”
The resolution signed by president of the Karachi Bar Syed Haider Imam Rizvi and secretary general Ashfaq Ali Gilal has demanded the Supreme Court to “urgently fix and independently and transparently probe the allegations of Justice Siddiqui and SJC proceedings in order to restore the waning credibility of the judicial institution and its reputation for independence.”
The resolution has also authorised the president and secretary and other leadership of the KBA to participate and present the views of the bar in any such hearing.
It is the first time in the judicial history of Pakistan, that a judge of the high court has been removed from office on charges of misconduct and for criticising Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
Ironically, the lawyers and their respective bodies in Islamabad and Rawalpindi where Justice Siddiqu spent his entire judicial career first as lawyer and then as judge did not pass any resolution expressing solidarity with him.