The former chief justice, Abdulla Saeed, and former top court judge, Ali Hameed, on Wednesday filed at the Supreme Court to review its decision to reject the appeals of the duo's jail verdicts.
Saeed and Hameed had appealed the High Court's verdict upholding their sentence to one year, seven months and six days in jail over undue influence on the judiciary. However, the apex court had rejected their appeal, stating that the High Court's verdict was not in violation of the law or Constitution, thus upholding the ruling.
Saeed and Hameed consequently lost their posts at the top court as per the recently ratified amendment to the Judicature Act. However, their lawyers maintain otherwise, stating that the appeal was rejected not by the Supreme Court's judges bench but the registrar, and hence their clients can still file for the court to review its decision.
Saeed's lawyer Hisaan Hussain confirmed on Wednesday that they have officially requested the Supreme Court to review its decision to reject the justices' appeal.
Whilst the lawyers insist the appeal rejection was made by the top court registrar, the case summary by the Supreme Court states that the decision was made by the judges’ bench as all appeals are directly submitted to the bench.
Meanwhile, President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has already submitted names to the parliament, regarding the appointment of new justices to fill the vacancies at the Supreme Court. Yameen is seeking to appoint the top court's Judge Dr. Ahmed Abdulla Didi as the new chief justice, and the High Court's current Chief Judge Abdulla Didi and Judge Abdul Ghani Mohamed as two new judges to the apex court.
The parliament has scheduled a sitting for Wednesday night to vote on the issue.
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