Justice Naqvi regrets ‘disgraceful’ treatment by SJC, its chairman

ISLAMABAD: Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, who is facing complaints of misconduct, on Tuesday regretted the ‘disgraceful’ treatment offered to him by Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) Chairman and its members, ARY News reported.

SJC is a constitutional body that probes allegations of misconduct against the judges of Supreme and high courts. It comprises the chief justice, two senior-most SC judges and two senior-most high courts’ chief justices.

Currently, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa; Supreme Court justices Sardar Tariq Masood and Ijazul Ahsan; and top judges of Lahore and Balochistan High Courts Mohammad Ameer Bhatti and Naeem Akhtar Afghan, respectively, are SJC members.

He made the remarks in an open letter to CJP Qazi Faez Isa and other Supreme Court (SC) judges over the “misinformation surrounding the matter of my case before the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC)”.

In the letter – a copy of which is available with ARY News, Justice Naqvi pointed out that the judicial council on Oct 28 issued a ‘show cause notice’ – which according to him was “afflicted with grievous legal, constitutional and jurisdictional defects”.

According to the SC judge, he had communicated the defects in a ‘Preliminary Response’ to the SJC. “The Council, instead of meeting the demands of honour and propriety, decided to convene a series of meetings [Nov 20th, 21st, 22nd] with an unmistakable objective of removing the defects and issued a revised show-cause”, he added.

“As a consequence, the SJC inadvertently admitted that the initial notice was defective, that the proceedings were initiated without any investigation or probe into the veracity of the complaints against me, that the members of the SJC are unfit to oversee the relevant proceedings on account of their decided bias and partiality,” the judge said in the letter.

He regretted that the treatment offered to him by the SJC Chairman and its members “is nothing short of disgraceful”.

Justice Mazahar Ali Naqvi noted that he had sought multiple times the provision of documents necessary to the development and formation of his appropriate defence. However, he said, his requests still have not been complied with.

“I have demanded recusal of SJC Chairman and its two members on at least 4 different occasions. My requests have not been considered, not been responded to,” he claimed.

Justice Naqvi pointed out the SJC Chairman’s demand for recusal of Honourable Justices Ijazul Ahsan and Sardar Tariq Masood.

“Is there a legal or moral justification for this unreasonable disparity, this blatant violation of my fundamental rights as guaranteed under the Constitution of Pakistan, this clear obstruction of justice that I seek from the most prestigious legal forum in the country?” he asked.

Justice Mazahar Ali Naqvi had filed petitions challenging the show-cause notice issued to him by Supreme Judicial Council. The petitions have been fixed for hearing before a three-member bench on Friday, December 15^th.

“Without raising any objections on the constitution of the Bench”, Justice Naqvi drew the CJP Isa and judges’ attention to Justice Ijazul Ahsan’s letter written to the Registrar of the Supreme Court.

“The note exposes the manner in which the violations of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023 have taken place at the hands of those in authority,” he said, adding: “It was agreed that the bench would comprise judges in the order of seniority unless a judge in question does not consent to be part of that bench”.

He questioned why the CJP Justice Qazi Faez Isa decided to constitute such a bench, and in a manner such as this.

Justice Mazahar Naqvi further castigated the SJC for convening a meeting despite “having a petition, filed and fixed before a bench, challenging the legality of the course of the SJC proceedings”.

“Is the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan not a higher, more authoritative forum than a biased, questionable SJC? Is this acceptable conduct, acceptable management of the matter?” he asked.

He added that SJC chairman was “in blatant, apparent, untethered and repeated violation of the law, of my fundamental rights under the Constitution of Pakistan”.

“This act alone is enough to prove a case of rigorous bias against Chief Justice of Pakistan. I categorically state that I have no faith in the proceedings which he is operating. His objective is clear and premeditated,” he added.

Moreover, Justice Naqvi said he was suffering consequences for “refusing to become a plaything in the hands of the political elite”. “I reserve my rights to challenge these bogus SJC proceedings, and I will see it to the very end,” he concluded.