ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court’s Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik has refused to hear a constitutional petition filed by a serving Lahore High Court (LHC) judge Justice Mazahir Ali Naqvi over a show cause notice served by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) against his alleged misconduct.
LHC’s judge Justice Mazahir Ali Naqvi had challenged the SC registrar’s order for rejecting his constitutional petition against a show cause notice served by the SJC. A two-judge bench of the top court, comprising Justice Amir Hani Muslim and Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik on Monday took up the LHC judge’s case.
During the course of hearing the bench said that one of the members (Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik) did not want to hear this case. Responding to which the counsel for the petitioner Raza Kazim submitted that he had filed a fresh application for referring the matter to the larger bench. Justice Hani however told him that after the recusal of one judge, they could not pass such an order.
According to a fresh application filed by Justice Mazahir Ali Naqvi through his counsel Raza Kazim a request has been made to the Chief Justice of Pakistan for the constitution of a larger bench comprising at least five judges to hear the case.
The appeal filed under Order XXXIII Rule 6 of the SC Rules 1980 referred the case of PLD 2010 SC 61, wherein the action taken against the superior court judge by the SJC was challenged before the top court under Article 184 (3).
“In the light of the ruling in the judgment reported as PLD 2010 SC 61 it would be appropriate, just and proper that the titled petition may be heard by a larger bench of at least five judges, or preferably by a bench of the same strength as the one which had heard the Iftikhar Chaudhary Case (Supra), and that the said larger bench may not have as its member the honourable judges that are currently presiding as members of the respondents (Supreme Judicial Council),” stated the appeal.
The appeal further stated that the applicant (LHC judge) has already filed a reply to the show cause notice dated 19.04.2016 issued by the SJC .
The SJC had served a show cause notice to LHC judge Justice Mazahir Naqvi on April 19 under sub-para (1) of para 9 of the SJC’s Procedure of Enquiry, 2005, for alleged misconduct. The council directed the judge to submit a reply within 14 days, responding to which, the LHC judge filed a constitutional petition in the top court against the SJC’s notice. But the SC registrar returned the petition after raising objections over the plea.
In his petition, the LHC judge submitted that security, inviolability and the independence of the superior court judges particularly for the exercise of discretion in accordance with freedom of thought and opinion was at stake.
The LHC judge also challenged the constitutional and legal validity of the SJC’s Procedure of Enquiry, 2005, urging the court to strike it down.
“The SJC’s Procedure of Inquiry, 2005, has neither constitutional authority nor delegated authority and the existing procedure is only in the nature of administrative guidelines,” the judge argued.
