ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) filed a complaint in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) against Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, a judge of the Supreme Court.
PBC Vice Chairperson Haroon Rasheed and Council’s Chairperson Executive Committee Hasan Raza Pasha, on Friday, filed the complaint on behalf of the apex regulatory body of the lawyers.
Both the top leaders of the PBC, on February 21 this year, had announced to file a complaint before the SJC against apex court judges, who was allegedly talking to former chief minister Pervaiz Elahi about fixation of case before a particular bench or judge. Three audio clips were leaked on February 16, 2023, and in one of the clips, Elahi was purportedly heard talking to the judge before whose bench he wanted a corruption case to be fixed. His voice could be heard telling the judge that he was coming to meet him. The man on the other side tried to convince him that it would not be appropriate, but former Punjab chief minister Elahi insisted he was close by and would be coming without protocol and that he would pay ‘salaam’ and leave.
The complaint maintained that the judges of the Supreme Court, constituting the SJC, devised the code of conduct for judges of the superior courts “in the exercise of their powers under Article 209 (8) of the Constitution of Pakistan. Thus, respect and compliance with such code become the foremost duty of the judges of the Supreme Court”.
It stated that “the judge’s task is to ensure that equality should prevail in all things” but the “performance and conduct of the superior judiciary has become a talk of the town everywhere in Pakistan”.
The complaint further said that the superior judiciary was already “under criticism” and the “audio leaks attributed to the respondent may have not pricked the conscience of the respondent judge but the Pakistan Bar Council has taken the matter with great concern for the sake of respect and dignity of the superior judiciary of Pakistan”.
It requested that the SJC hold an inquiry into the matter and initiate “proper proceedings” on information regarding Justice Naqvi’s “assets worth Crores of rupees” which was circulating in the media.
The petition provided grounds for the inquiry, stating that “Article III of the Code of conduct requires of a judge to be above approach and for this purpose to keep his conduct in all things, official and/ or private, free from impropriety is expected of a judge. The conduct exhibited and displayed by the respondent judge in audio leaks is a clear violation of the referred article”.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023