The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) has found former Supreme Court judge Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi “guilty of misconduct” and recommended that he “should have been removed from the office of judge”.

The SJC was headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Qazi Faez Isa, and comprised of SC’s Justice Tariq Masood and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Lahore High Court Chief Justice (CJ) Muhammad Ameer Bhatti, and Balochistan High Court (BHC) CJ Naeem Akhtar.

The recommendation, however, is unlikely to have any consequence as Justice Mazahar Naqvi had already resigned on January 10, citing unfavourable circumstances.

In a press release issued today, the council stated that it held a meeting on February 29 when a series of matters were discussed, one of which was the allegations against Justice Mazahar Naqvi (retired).

“The council rendered its opinion in respect of the nine complaints against the judge under Article 209 (6) of the Constitution before making its recommendation against him,” it said.

Following the verdict, the SJC forwarded its opinion to the President for his approval.

In December 2023, in an open letter to the CJP all SC judges, Justice Naqvi decried that the treatment meted out to him by the SJC was “nothing short of disgraceful”.

The SJC in October had issued a show cause notice to Justice Naqvi amid complaints alleging bench manipulation and financial misconduct by the SC judge.