The decision was made under Article 25 of the JSC Act during the commission’s latest meeting. A JSC member confirmed that the action was taken after the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) shared details of its investigation with the commission.
Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has suspended Supreme Court judges Husnu Su’ood, Mahaz Ali Zahir, and Dr Azmiralda Zahir in connection with an ongoing investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
The decision was made under Article 25 of the JSC Act during the commission’s latest meeting. A JSC member confirmed that the action was taken after the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) shared details of its investigation with the commission.
The suspension of three Supreme Court judges comes shortly after the passage of a bill in Parliament to amend the Judicature Act, reducing the number of judges on the Supreme Court bench from seven to five.
The amendment mandates that MPs lose their seats if they leave their party or are expelled. The full bench of the Supreme Court is hearing this case, and a hearing had been scheduled for 11:00 am today to decide on the interim orders.
However, with the suspension of the three judges, the hearing will no longer proceed as planned.
The Constitution stipulates that a judge cannot be removed from office unless they violate the code of conduct or judicial rules. According to the law, the JSC can only remove a judge after a disciplinary case is proven and if two-thirds of the Parliament members present vote in favor of the removal.
This means that there is no immediate possibility of passing a law to remove the suspended judges, as confirmed by Parliamentary Counsel General Fathimath Filza and other legal experts.
A hearing has been scheduled for 11:00 am today to decide on the interim orders. However, the hearing will not be conducted with the suspension of the three judges.
The Constitution states that a judge shall not be removed from office as long as he or she does not violate the code of conduct and rules to be followed by judges. The JSC cannot remove a judge unless a disciplinary case is proven and two-thirds of the Parliament vote for their removal.
Therefore, there is no possibility of passing a law to remove the judges, judicial experts said. Parliament Counsel General Fathimath Filza has also highlighted this issue.
Filza advised that while the Constitution does not specify a fixed number of Supreme Court judges, reducing the number from seven to five would require the removal of sitting judges, which she said was not the fairest approach. However, Parliament did not take that into account when it passed the bill.
The JSC is preparing to investigate the disciplinary cases of some Supreme Court judges. Some government officials believe that the JSC has previously "parked" many cases against the judges. There are many things that have happened that could damage the integrity of the judges which can be proven, some officials say.
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