Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed has appealed his sentence over the shut-down of Government E-letter Management System (GEMS), in the wake of the landmark February 1 ruling, at the Supreme Court.
The chief justice was found guilty of ordering to shut down GEMS on February 4 and 5, and sentenced to jail time for a period of four months and 24 days by the High Court.
The sentence was appealed at the Supreme Court by Chief Justice Saeed’s lawyer.
CJ Saeed had earlier appealed his jail verdict over termination of the GEMS system, by the Criminal Court. However, the High Court had upheld the lower court’s verdict and maintained his jail sentence of four months and 24 days.
The High Court’s verdict stated that evidence proved that Chief Justice Saeed had terminated GEMS on multiple counts. The verdict declared that Saeed’s action was a criminal offence under Section 533 of the Penal Code, which states that knowingly obstructing or impairing the administration of law or other governmental function by a physical interference or obstacle, breach of official duty, or any unlawful act is a Class 1 misdemeanor.
The recently ratified amendment to the Judicature Act states that if an appellate court finds a judge guilty of a criminal offence, the procedures declared in Article 154 of the Constitution will not be applicable, and the judge will be removed from office. The new amendments further state that the appeal of judges who are found guilty of a crime is to be submitted and concluded within a period of 30 days.
Chief Justice Saeed was also charged with accepting bribes and influencing court verdicts, exerting undue influence in his capacity as Chief Justice and attempting to stage a coup, and deliberately impeding the systematic functioning of criminal proceedings and the state.
He is already sentenced to one year, seven months and six days after the Criminal Court found him guilty of undue influence on the judiciary. Saeed had appealed the Criminal Courts's verdict in mid-May. However, the High Court also upheld the lower court’s verdict, declaring that evidence presented during the closed trial proved that Saeed had been influencing judges of lower courts to manipulate verdicts since the beginning of 2016 until February 1, 2018.
The Chief Justice was arrested along with Judge Ali Hameed of the top court, under the state of emergency declared by President Abdulla Yameen amidst political turmoil, after the Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling to free nine high-profile political prisoners in early February.
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