Supreme Court Judge Dr Azmiralda Zahir has been summoned to Judicial Service Commission (JSC) in relation to an investigation they are conducting into allegations that she exerted undue influence over Criminal Court judges.
Supreme Court Judge Dr Azmiralda Zahir has been summoned to Judicial Service Commission (JSC) in relation to an investigation they are conducting into allegations that she exerted undue influence over Criminal Court judges.
Azmiralda attended the hearing at 10am this morning, accompanied by lawyer Ibrahim Shameel.
The allegations against her are of exerting influence over Criminal Court judges seeking release when her husband Dr Ismail Latheef had been arrested.
A second case she is accused in is of being present, alongside Judge Mahaz Ali Zahir, when former Supreme Court Judge HusnuSuood summoned Assistant Registrar of High Court Hussain Mohamed Haneef to Supreme Court and used offensive language in addressing him. No judges have been summoned regarding this case as of yet.
In the case of exerting influence on Criminal Court Judges, Azmiralda's lawyers have stated that the allegations are baseless and untrue. They said that a detailed letter has been sent to JSC explaining that the Judge had not called any other judges in relation to the case, nor had she attempted to influence the case in any way.
Mahaz was summoned to JSC on Sunday in the same case. He stated that he had been unaware of the arrest of a spouse of a Supreme Court Judge until after the Criminal Court had also ruled on his remand.
Judges HusnuSuood, Mahaz and Azmiralda were suspended last week in relation to an Anti Corruption Commission investigation into the same case just fifteen minutes before a scheduled hearing in the case on revocation of a Constitutional amendment on MPs' loss of seat.
Also last week, the parliament passed an amendment to the Judicature Act which would reduce the number of judges on the Supreme Court bench from seven to five. This bill has not been ratified as of yet.
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