The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday adjourned former Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui’s constitutional petition against his removal till 10 am Friday (tomorrow).

A five-member bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Irfan Saadat Khan heard the plea. The proceedings were broadcast live.

At the outset of the hearing, CJP Justice Qazi Faez Isa remarked the country was heading towards democracy and the apex court was also becoming a democratic institution.

Elaborating his remarks about democracy, CJP Isa said that Justice Tariq and Justice Ijazul Ahsan refused to join the bench, he did not remove anyone from the bench.

Hamid Khan in his remarks said Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui was dismissed after a ‘speech’, which he also read before the SC bench. A reference was also filed against my client in the Faizabad sit-in case.

The former judge was removed vide notification issued by President Arif Alvi on October 11-10-2019 upon the recommendation of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) for making a speech to the Rawalpindi Bar Association on July 21, 2018.

In his speech, he blamed the higher judiciary for the country’s ‘deplorable’ state of affairs.

In 2019, the IHC ex-judge had challenged the SJC report and the President’s order in the SC.

Former judge says he made speech to defend judiciary

The former IHC judge stated he was discriminated against for making a public speech while the worthy chairman of the SJC (ex-CJP Saqib Nisar) went on making speeches, addressing Bar Council, attending conventions and meeting members of the armed forces, including the Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Air Staff and even declaring that whole judiciary was incompetent.

Shaukat stated that he only pointed out interference by some elements in the administration of justice.