Sacked Justice Shaukat Siddiqui challenges his termination in SC

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, who was sacked earlier this month by Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) for his controversial speech, challenged his termination in the Supreme Court on Friday.

In his petition Siddiqui argued that the SJC had terminated him without a proper inquiry. He wrote that the SJC members were biased in their judgment in removing him and appealed to the SC to withdraw the notification of his removal and restore him as Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge.

During his speech at the Rawalpindi District Bar Association, Siddique had made allegations about the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) manipulating judicial proceedings. Siddiqui had also claimed that the IHC chief justice was approached by agencies to ensure that deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz remained in jail for the general elections.

Later on, President Arif Alvi terminated Siddqui as a judge of the IHC October 11. He was removed on SJC's recommendation and the Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar, who was heading the council, ruled that Siddiqui had displayed conduct unbecoming of judge of a high court and was thus guilty of misconduct.