The state, on Sunday, has admitted that jailed Supreme Court Judge Ali Hameed and Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed are facing harsh sentences over their charges.
The statement was made at High Court during the justices’ appeal hearing over their sentence.
The justices were sentenced to one year, seven months and six days in jail. Tthe legal punishment for the levied charges is jailtime of nine months and eighteen days. However, the state lawyers had vindicated that the sentence was imposed based on the severity of the crime and the judges’ posts in court.
The state had levied charges of influencing official duties against Saeed and Hameed, accusing the duo of influencing judges of lower courts to manipulate verdicts since the beginning of 2016 until February 1 this year, when the apex court had issued its landmark order to free political prisoners.
In addition to the duo's sentences, CJ Saeed was also recently found guilty of ordering to shut down the Supreme Court's Government E-letter Management System (GEMS) in the wake of the February 1 ruling. He has thus been convicted of obstructing state functioning, and sentenced to four months and 24 days in jail.
The two justices appealed their verdict during the given period of 10 days. However, should the High Court uphold the lower court's ruling and find them guilty within 30 days of the appeal, Saeed and Hameed will automatically lose their positions as judges, as per the recently passed amendment to the Judicature Act.
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 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.
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