Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Ahmed Hailam, on Monday, submitted his resignation.
He attributed his decision to politicians allegedly exerting influence over judges. Hailam claimed that the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and the parliament's judiciary committee were working to concentrate the powers of the court in the hands of a select group of politicians instead of reforming the judiciary system.
Judge Hailam submitted his resignation while under suspension for forwarding a controversial image to the court's Viber group. Sent on the occasion of Martyr's Day, the picture depicted President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and former President Mohamed Nasheed, along with the orchestrators of the November 3, 1988 coup, in chains.
Following their investigation into the matter, JSC decided to put forward a motion at the Parliament for Judge Hailam's dismissal.
The parliament's judiciary committee has concluded that JSC completed due procedures prior to finalising the decision to dismiss the judge. The matter would then be submitted to the parliament floor for a final vote.
The parliament has thus far complied with JSC's conclusions on matters.
Although Hailam was initially designated the presiding judge for the state's money laundering case against former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, a five-member bench was formed to oversee the matter following his suspension.
According to Hailam, the judiciary watchdog decided to submit the motion for his dismissal without consideringe information in his letters to the commission. Therefore, he highlighted that the decision was not in accordance with the constitution or JSC's regulations.
Judge Hailam had refused to respond to JSC's summons and instead released a statement, asserting that it included information for the judiciary watchdog.
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